High Court Halts NCBA Bank's Auction of Kiwatule Matrimonial Home Over Missing Spousal Consent

The Commercial Division of the High Court has temporarily barred NCBA Bank Uganda Limited from selling a matrimonial property in Kiwatule, Kampala, until a related lawsuit is resolved. Justice Patience Rubagumya granted the stay on April 2, ruling that the sale would undermine the ongoing case filed by Ms Negash Tenaye Anteneh, a 69-year-old housewife.

Ms Negash, married to Mr Haile Banteyehun since 1969, claims the property on Kyadondo Block 220 Plot 850—registered solely in her husband’s name—is their family home. The couple began constructing it in 2004, completed it the following year, and she has lived there for over two decades, raising their children.

The dispute arose when NCBA Bank advertised the home for sale on October 31, 2025, as security for a loan tied to a consent judgment in Civil Suit No. 484 of 2024. Ms Negash only learned of the mortgage and judgment on November 19, 2025, via a friend, asserting she never authorized its use as collateral.

Justice Rubagumya noted the serious threat to Ms Negash’s rights and her deep emotional attachment to the home, stating that no monetary damages could compensate for such loss. The court affirmed her marriage and contributions to the property’s development.

Through M/s Olympia Advocates, Ms Negash is seeking declarations that the property is matrimonial, invalidation of the mortgage for lacking her consent, cancellation of the judgment’s property clause, a permanent injunction against the sale, and damages.

She accuses Vambeco Enterprises Limited and her husband of fraudulently using the home for loans and the 2024 settlement, while faulting the bank for inadequate due diligence. Ugandan law under the Land (Amendment) Act 2004 and Mortgage Act 2009 requires spousal consent for such transactions on family land, rendering non-compliant ones void.

The main suit remains pending in the Commercial Division.

Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)