By Mulengera Reporters
This Thursday morning, a number of distressed car buyers thronged Jinja Road Police Station to have a look of the much-feared Kampala car dealer who had just been apprehended by the no-nonsense detectives. Fahad Ssegujja, a flashy car dealer, was apprehended after several complaints were lodged against him at Police, sparking off criminal investigations.
A Kampala law firm has since taken up the matter offering to have Fahad Ssegujja prosecuted and cracked up on behalf of crest-fallen victims who the law firm says are many. And that the monies involved are colossal which is why Police and other security agencies have to take the Ssegujja matter more seriously than would ordinarily have been the case.
The lawyers’ brief on Ssegujja indicates that some of his victims, who have been duped to part with colossal sums of money without ever getting to enjoy the posh cars they have paid for, include: Raymond Ntulume who paid Shs115m on one occasion and Shs45m on another but never got the BMW X5 and BMW X3; Jeremy Mpalampa; Ivan Lule; Gloria Ssali and Anthony Katusiime among others.
In each case, the buyers entered into barter arrangements whereby you surrender your current car and then top up with cash to get something bigger, better and more powerful. In the case of Raymond Ntulume, Shs115m was paid and the 2014 BMW X5 model (black in color) was handed over to him but without the relevant documentation. This became the ground upon which the vehicle was subsequently taken away from him, under very humiliating circumstances.
Fahad Ssegujja, who luxuriously drives around town in a white range rover with personalized number plate FAHAD, initially assured him that the logbook was being processed and asked him to give his Daichi Motors Ltd car bond (based in Banda) a few days. The transaction took place in March this year and after sometime, Fahad Ssegujja became incommunicado leaving Raymond Ntulume confused for what to do.
Six months later, in September, as he enjoyed what he was sure was his vehicle, Raymond Ntulume was one morning intercepted by Court Bailiffs who demanded that he surrenders the BMW X5 (UBQ 322G) on grounds that the six months’ period that had been given to him to pay up the Shs53m balance had elapsed.
In total disbelief, Ntulume (after failing to access Ssegujja) reported a case (SD Ref:14/02/10/2024) at Muyenga Police Station against Fahad Ssegujja. It was indicated by Bailiffs to Ntulume that the balance of Shs53m was due to a company called Card Guru Ltd, which he was hearing about for the first time. The same Ntulume was to separately suffer almost the same fate shortly after in relation to BMW X3 (UBN 015N gold in color model 2012) for which he had paid Shs45m last May. He returned to the same Muyenga Police and reported another case, SD Ref 15/02/10/2024 against the same Fahad Ssegujja.
Police sources explain that at some point, Ssegujja offered to pay Shs30m for Ntulume’s 2006 model Sedan Lexus (white in color) registration number UBG 126B but still the deal went sour after Mr. Ssegujja didn’t keep his word.
The other case that Police is struggling to investigate against the same Ssegujja relates to a one Mr. Jeremy Mpalampa who paid Shs100m for the BMW X6 (white in color) which he was unable to enjoy yet he parted with the money. This is being investigated under Kabalagala Police’s SD Ref 82/07/09/2024. The transaction took place on 31st March this very year.
Mpalampa was to pay Shs30m besides parting with his Black Volkswagen Touareg (UBM 174S) which had been valued at Shs75m. The Shs30m was transferred to Fahad Ssegujja’s Stanbic Bank Account No. 9030021983062. On failing to receive the relevant documentation from the BMW X6 from Ssegujja, Mpalampa demanded for the return of his Shs30m and the Touareg but all in vain. Police investigators were recently able to trace Mpalampa’s Touareg in Mityana where it now belonged to a one John Kintu who had innocently bought and took custody of the same.
Closely working with CID officers who were dispatched from Kabalagala Police Division, Mityana Divisional Police on 7th October tried but failed to impound the vehicle from the new Mityana-based owner. The Police returned to their headquarters empty-handed even when they had all the relevant paperwork. This inability by Police to assert themselves has caused great anxiety among other car buyers who are aggrieved against the same Fahad Ssegujja as they currently don’t know who to report to.
There is also another case of Ivan Lule who was unable to get access to and permanently enjoy his 2013 Mercedes Benz M-Class model (white in color & Regn No. UBK 306L) even after parting with his hard-earned Shs95m on 27th March 2024.
Because he hadn’t yet managed to get the logbook from Ssegujja, the ill-fated Ivan Lule had the vehicle forcefully grabbed from him by court bailiffs who demanded that he pays up the remaining balance of Shs15m to a company called Mighty Rides Ltd, which he says he was hearing about for the first time (just like the Shs15m he was being required to pay).
He only enjoyed the Mercedes Benz M-Class for just 6 months. He is now agonizing and doubts anyone in government or security will ever have guts to crack the whip on Fahad Ssegujja, who clearly has become a larger than life figure.
As for Gloria Ssali, she parted with Shs60m in return for a Toyota Rav4 Vanguard (UBP 262M) which she wasn’t able to comfortably enjoy due to lack of logbook and other relevant documentation. The vehicle was never transferred into her names even after she had parted with her hard earned Shs60m on top of surrendering her Toyota Rav4 UAY 727C which was valued at Shs40m at the time the transaction was executed with Fahad Ssegujja.
As she left for work one morning, Bailiffs menacingly intercepted Gloria Ssali at her gate and forcefully took away the car. She was required to pay the balance or produce its logbook and this resulted into Gloria Ssali being crudely deprived of what friends had for months considered to be her car. She tried calling Fahad Ssegujja who admitted receiving her money but that wasn’t enough to get the Bailiffs back off.
And finally is the case of Anthony Katusiime who parted with Shs80m on 24th July 2023 and even surrendered his Nissan Murano UBM 556G (valued at Shs40m) but still couldn’t permanently own the black Infinity car UBL 840K which Fahad Ssegujja is supposed to have sold to him. There was also another transaction between these two gentlemen regarding the Volkswagen Touareg (blue UBN 956X) which too soured and became disputed even after a payment of Shs39.5m had been made by Katusiime via mobile money and bank transfers. In the end, Bailiffs attacked Katusiime and deprived him of the “my car” status he had long established himself into.
In writing to the higher authorities in Police, the prominent Kampala law firm believes this is the only way to enforce justice for the victims, many of whom are quietly agonizing for fear of the resultant scandalous publicity which might result into them losing jobs or getting problems at their respective work places should media stories be written dragging in or making reference to the good names of their respective employers. The lawyers want the IGP to work with the CID Director to have the conduct of car selling and buying business by Fahad International Ltd comprehensively inquired into in order to shield Ugandan car buyers against subsequent victimization.