Flamboyant Kampala city businessman also the proprietor of Goldmine Finance limited Allan Tayebwa has assured Justice Susan Adongo of the Commercial Division of the High Court that he is in position to compensate Doreen Kansiime and her company the Towerco of Africa Uganda Limited all the financial losses they will incur in the process of dismantling Bugolobi telecommunication mast
Tayebwa a prominent money lender in Kampala city was responding to Kansiime’s application seeking an order stopping him from removing her telecommunication mast situated at LRV 2477 Folio 14 Plot 35, Princess Anne Drive Bugolobi, Kampala until the determination of her appeal before the same court.
In her evidence affidavit, Kansiime, a businesswoman told court that she constructed the said mast after receiving a license from Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to provide telecommunications infrastructure and has constructed masts nationwide.
She told court that the said mast in Bugolobi is critical for mobile network operators like MTN, Airtel, and Lyca Mobile who provide wireless services to the public.
More Read
She told Court that on 29th August, 2025, she was shocked to receive a warrant of attachment from Tayebwa claiming that he is a mortgagee of the said land where she constructed her mast.
She disclosed that she tried to explain to the businessman that she was not a party to the suit which resulted into a court order to remove the tower within 30 days.
She added that her effort to stop the process was frustrated when the deputy registrar of the Commercial Court dismissed her application to block the dismantling of her mask on grounds that her application was taken out of time.
She insisted that dismantling the mast will affect her license because it is clear that the construction and relocation of such masts is governed by the UCC Regulations (2019) and Guidelines (2021) which stipulate that infrastructure cannot be relocated without a 12 month notice in which they have to obtain approval from the UCC, NEMA, and the Civil Aviation Authority which Tayebwa didn’t want to listen but instead gave her only thirty days.
She said that dismantling her mast will violate the statutory obligations and their Master Tower Service Agreement (MTSA) with Airtel, which has to run for at least 10 years.
However, Tayebwa rubbished Kansiime’s submissions noting that the mortgages on the land were registered in 2017 and 2018 long before her company existed or constructed the mast.
He accused her of being a trespasser with no legal right on his land and thus asked court to dismiss her application because it was frustrating his financial plans.
The judge disagreed with Tayebwa’s argument that he has all the money to compensate Kansiime, noting that he failed to address the non-pecuniary nature of license revocation and the permanent reputational damage associated with network failure.
“While the physical mast has a cost, the goodwill and regulatory standing of a telecommunications provider are assets that once lost, are not easily restored by a cash payment,” the judge stated.
The judge added that allowing the mast to be demolished and the network disconnected before the appeal is heard will render the Main Suit nugatory, as the status quo cannot be restored.
“I find that the hardship the Applicant and the general public would suffer through an immediate disconnection and demolition far outweighs the inconvenience the Respondent faces by a stay of execution pending the appeal,” the judge insisted.
