The Principal Judge, Dr. Flavian Zeija has revealed that one of the parties in the Diamond Trust Bank vs Hamis Kiggundu Shs120bn case tried to bribe him to influence his decision.

“I was flabbergasted by one of the parties sending emissaries to me with financial proposals in order to influence my decision. This is disgusting, to say the least,”Zeija said.

Zeija made the revelation this morning as he delayed the payment of Shs120bn by Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) to Kiggundu, which had earlier been ordered by the Commercial Court.

Zeija’s decision follows an appeal filed by DTB in the Court of Appeal challenging the Commercial Court ruling. The bank had lodged an application seeking to have the execution of the Commercial Court stayed.

“This decision has far-reaching implications on the banking industry as far as it declares syndicated loans illegal. This calls for maintenance of the status quo to enable the court of appeal to inquire into this illegality (syndicated loans) and either uphold the finding or reverse it,” Zeija said in his ruling.

“There is serious or imminent threat of execution of the order and if the application is not granted, the appeal would be rendered nugatory. If the mortgages(security) are released (by DTB), it presents a high risk as these titled can be transferred and defeats the only security the applicants (DTB) have against the respondents (Ham).”