Kampala, Uganda – August 9, 2025 — Businessman Patrick Bitature has won temporary relief in his long-running legal battle with South African firm Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership over a $10 million (Shs 36 billion) loan, after the Court of Appeal halted arbitration proceedings pending an appeal.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Oscar Kihika, pauses the High Court arbitration case involving Bitature’s Simba Properties Investment Co. Ltd until the company’s application for leave to appeal is resolved.
The dispute traces back to a 2014 Mezzanine Term Facility Agreement in which Vantage extended a $10 million loan to Simba Properties, secured by corporate guarantees and mortgages on various properties. When Simba defaulted, the matter went to arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce in London. On July 31, 2023, the arbitrator ruled in Vantage’s favour, prompting the lender to seek enforcement of the award in Uganda’s High Court.
Simba Properties challenged a related November 17, 2023, ruling by Justice Thomas Ocaya, which issued interim orders preserving company ownership and mortgaged assets until enforcement of the arbitral award was decided. Dissatisfied, Simba sought leave to appeal, arguing that the High Court proceedings were premature and could render their appeal “nugatory.”
Vantage opposed the application, claiming the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act and that Simba’s appeal was filed out of time. Justice Kihika, however, ruled that jurisdiction applied because the High Court’s decision arose under the Civil Procedure Act, not the arbitration law, and that questions over the Notice of Appeal’s validity could only be settled by a full bench of three justices.
Kihika also dismissed claims that Simba’s application cited the wrong legal provisions, stating that this caused no prejudice or miscarriage of justice. He found that Simba had raised a legitimate legal question about whether interim measures can be granted after arbitration ends, calling it “an arguable point of law that is not frivolous.”
While noting the dispute involved ascertainable monetary losses rather than irreparable harm, Justice Kihika concluded that denying the stay could undermine Simba’s right of appeal.
The decision delays Vantage’s attempts to enforce the arbitral award and gives Bitature and his company more time to pursue their case in the Court of Appeal.
