By Our Reporters
George William Kayongo, the ex-Buddo head teacher who got maliciously prosecuted over the 2008 inferno at the school, has spoken out implicating Barclays Bank in the whole saga. Kayongo says whereas it’s true he had taken a development loan from Barclays to expand his Berkley College School in Zana that was situated near the wealthy tycoon’s business empire, the Bank aided the tycoon’s efforts to take advantage of his detention after the fire to make him lose his school. The envious tycoon, who lately has been a subject of constant scrutiny by social media and by state-owned Bukedde and New Vision, had always wanted Kayongo to sell his school to him to be able to expand his business premises at the Zana headquarters and Kayongo had always refused. Kayongo confirms social media reports that indeed he wasn’t on good terms with the tycoon because, as a neighbor, he would dispose wastes in a manner that made life uncomfortable for teachers and students at Kayongo’s school. Kayongo says at the time Buddo Junior, which he had ceased to head weeks earlier, got burn Barclays Bank had agreed to reschedule the repayment period for his Berkley College loan. “But what shocked me is the way the bank acted in a manner that favored this rich man who had always wanted to buy my school premises for expansion of his business. They had lent to me what was supposed to be an Apex loan but they suddenly turned it into a commercial loan which comes with more complex repayment terms. This created repayment difficulties for me and in the end they had to sell my school which was the security and the very tycoon, who was forcing me to sell to him, is the one they sold my school to,” a remorseful Kayongo told this news website. We met him at the Ministry where a sympathetic President Museveni sometime back gave him a job as an inspector. Kayongo’s school was auctioned and Barclays Bank officials curiously favored this same tycoon to emerge the winner and that is why he finally got Kayongo’s school that he had always desired to swallow into his vast manufacturing empire. Unlike commercial loans, Apex loans had longer repayment period and lower interest because the motive was to facilitate investment in development projects which happen to be long term. Clearly meant to favor the malicious manufacturing tycoon, the conversion of the same from Apex to Commercial loan constrained Kayongo, a thing that resulted into the tycoon getting his trophy of the school whose land he badly needed for expansion. Within a short time, the loan that Kayongo had decimated to mere Shs650m rapidly grew back to Shs1.2bn which the veteran educationist couldn’t pay as he was simultaneously battling police charges. Gratefully these turned out to be malicious charges as nothing could be proved against him. Kayongo wonders why Barclays Bank rushed to auction and sell his school business to the controversial tycoon when it was clearly valued at over Shs3bn that was way over and above the Shs1.2bn which they claimed was the overall pending balance at that time. He says even when he was clearly willing and still capacitated enough to pay once the storm had settled, Barclays Bank officials treated him unfairly by not being patient even when he was clearly still within his time to pay up. “The moment Buddo Jr caught fire, the bank proceeded to cancel the loan in what I considered to be very dubious circumstances. They never had the courtesy to even consult me on whether I would still pay. They just proceeded to sell my property to somebody who had been rivalling over my refusal to sell the same to him. I was left in shock because all the documentation I still have clearly shows I was a good customer who was ably servicing my loan. I had been a valued customer but they turned their back on me the moment I was maliced into the Buddo fire problem,” says Kayongo whose prosecution the state eventually abandoned for want of evidence to implicate him. “It’s my prayer that as the investigations into the Buddo fire reopen, the investigating agencies should scrutinize the bank because the way some of its officials behaved left a lot to be desired. They could have been complicit in what happened.” Kayongo says his is an incorruptible God, he is optimistic the truth will eventually come out through the renewed investigations and Barclays Bank’s exact role in the tycoon’s curious business success and the collapse of his (Kayongo’s) empire will come to light and be unearthed for the public to know the full story. For comments, call/text/whatsapp us on 0703164755.
