Stephen Zimula, FCIArb

Background

Stephen is a Partner at MMAKS Advocates | ALN Uganda. He has 20 years’ experience in corporate and commercial litigation and arbitration across banking and finance, construction, real estate, debt recovery, shareholder disputes, insurance, tax, sale of goods and general commercial contracts.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and serves on the panels of a number of arbitral institutions in the region.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from Makerere University and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre.

Stephen’s approach to dispute resolution is grounded in pragmatism, time and cost efficiency, and early attention to the core issues driving a dispute.

Stephen has 20 years’ experience litigating a wide range of corporate and commercial disputes before all the superior courts in Uganda.

Membership in Professional Societies

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Uganda Law Society

East Africa Law Society

Commonwealth Lawyers Association   

Professional Qualifications

Diploma in Trial Advocacy, National Institute of Trial Advocacy

2005 Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Law Development Centre, Kampala

2003 LLB, Bachelor of Laws, Makerere University, Kampala

Career Summary

2015 - Date          Partner, MMAKS Advocates, Kampala

2010 - 2015          Senior Associate, MMAKS Advocates, Kampala

2006 - 2010          Associate, MMAKS Advocates, Kampala

2005 – 2006         Legal Assistant, Adriko & Karugaba Advocates, Kampala

Areas of Expertise

• Corporate and commercial litigation
• Commercial arbitration
• Banking and finance
• Construction
• Real Estate
• Debt recovery
• Insurance

• Tax litigation and advisory

Languages

• English
• Luganda 

Top Matters

Banking and Finance and Debt Recovery

• Acting for Diamond Trust Bank Uganda in loan enforcement actions valued in excess of USD 10m.
• Successfully acted for ABSA Bank in complex loan enforcement litigation for recovery of sums in excess of USD 7m.
• Acting for the United Nations Federal Credit Union, Bank of Africa and other financial institutions in various loan enforcement actions.
• Acting for the Central Bank of Uganda in a suit involving the fraudulent conveyancing of securities securing a debt in excess of USD 20m.

Tax

• Successfully acted for a Ugandan investor in resisting a USD2.8m tax dispute with the Uganda Revenue Authority.
• Successfully acted for a leading hotel chain in tax challenge proceedings before the Tax Appeals Tribunal.
• Acting  for a leading  real estate company in several CGT tax resistance challenges against the Uganda Revenue Authority before the Tax Appeals Tribunal.

Real Estate

• Advising and acting for the Aga Khan Foundation in relation to its Uganda property portfolio.
• Advising several leading real estate investors in relation to all forms of real property acquisition, structuring, leasing, and disposal, including tax and business advice.
• Successfully acted for a local investor in confirmation and quieting of title to thirteen high value condominum properties, recovery of over USD 3m in mesne profits and associated relief, the resultant court decision being instrumental jurisprudence on Uganda’s condominium property laws.
• Successfully acted for Impala Investments Limited in defence of complex litigation over ownership of a USD 5m lakeside property dispute.

Product liability

• Acting for SYOVA Seed in defence of a USD 500,000 herbicide product liability claim.
• Acting for a leading automobile producer in defence of a product liability claim purporting electro-mechanical defect.

General commercial contracts and sale of goods

• Acting for a Dubai-based company in a breach of solar energy contract claim before the Commercial Court of Uganda.
• Acting for several corporate and individual clients in various contractual disputes.