Arvind Patel ordered to pay Shs 1.1bn in loan interest

The High Court of Uganda has ordered businessman Arvind Patel to pay over Shs 1.1 billion in outstanding loan amounts and interest to Prime Finance Company Limited. The ruling follows breaches of two separate loan agreements.

In November 2013, Patel secured a Shs 200 million loan with a four-month repayment period. Although most of the principal was repaid, an outstanding balance of Shs 37 million accumulated to Shs 132 million due to a weekly interest rate of 0.75 per cent applied to overdue amounts.

In 2014, Patel obtained a second loan of Shs 130 million from the same lender. He failed to repay this within the stipulated four-month period, causing the debt to grow to Shs 992 million by the time legal action was initiated.

Justice Boniface Wamala ruled that Patel breached both agreements. In addition to the Shs 1.124 billion in principal and accumulated interest, the court awarded Prime Finance Shs 20 million in aggravated damages and ordered Patel to cover the costs of the suit.