Lwasa, family fail to raise Shs. 18M; sent to Luzira over debt

The tycoon on Tuesday afternoon was loaded on a Prison bus in front of glaring media cameras after a lengthy hearing at the court.

Lwasa is said to have failed to clear a debt that accumulated to Shs. 18,095,500 over the past three years.

According to court documents, Lwasa was issued multiple summons by the court which he turned down.

The court ultimately issued a warrant of arrest for the businessman which has been out for months.

That was until yesterday when he was finally picked up by court bailiffs along the Kampala-Mityana Road.

Counsel Martin Muhumuza, representing the tycoon’s creditors told reporters at the court that Lwasa had been in hiding for the past three years.

Upon his arrest, the lawyer said, he was given an opportunity to mobilize the money and pay off the debt, which he failed.

For about three hours, Lwasa and the lawyers where holed up in the magistrate’s chambers as he and several of his family members outside the court made frantic phone calls to raise the money but could not.

“It seems that while we hear a lot about his wealth, most of it is in words because we have been waiting here for a long period of time and we haven't seen a single coin,” said lawyer Muhumuza.

In the end, the Magistrate ordered for Lwasa to be taken to Luzira as he and his people continue to look for the money

Just last year in April, Lwasa was arrested and jailed for allegedly forging signatures for his mining licenses.