By BM
A burgeoning legal case threatens to unravel the meticulously curated image of Salaam Bank Limited as Uganda’s pioneering Islamic financial institution.
Former employee Ann Logose, who worked as an Applications Support Officer, accuses the bank of wrongful dismissal, religious discrimination and breaching a car financing contract resulting in the sudden loss of her car, frozening of her bank account and severe financial strain.
Logose formally joined Salaam Bank in January 2022 and was confirmed as a permanent employee one year later in January 2023. Relying on that stability, she applied for and received a Murabaha auto financing agreement, an Islamic finance structure compliant with Sharia law. It basically was a salary loan to enable her buy her first car.
The bank agreed to purchase a Subaru Impreza (registration UBR 482M) worth UGX 40.3 million and resell it to her at a deferential profit margin, with repayment scheduled over 60 months in monthly salary deductions of UGX 671,706 beginning in October 2024.
Having fulfilled all contractual requirements and taken possession of the vehicle, Logose believed everything was proceeding by the book. She had financed the requisite comprehensive car insurance and installed a tracking device, obtaining temporary funds from her father-in-law, a fact she disclosed to Human Resources Manager, Sarah Sanyu, during a casual discussion.
Her compliance, however, became the trigger for a startling turn of events in November 2024. In her legal complaint, Logose recounts being summoned to an abrupt senior management meeting, where she was pressured to elaborate on how she funded the comprehensive insurance and tracker.
Following this, she was encouraged to request a salary advance to cover the costs, with assurances of expedited approval. The application was never processed or disbursed, effectively leaving her in limbo.
In early December, the HR Manager allegedly orchestrated a troubling sequence of actions. She allegedly coaxed Logose to travel with her to Naalya where the car was parked, then reclaimed the vehicle by driving it back to the bank headquarters and securing it there, alongside the keys.
Logose was prevented from accessing her personal effects from the vehicle. Told that her employment was at risk and that the bank was “setting a precedent,” she was left alarmed and confused.
Within days, Logose received an official letter from the bank’s Managing Director recalling the financing facility and demanding the full balance of UGX 38.9 million, a demand she claimed contradicted the loan agreement, as she was not in default.
The bank also insisted on UGX 3.6 million repayment as a salary advance, despite the fact the advance was never issued. On December 20, 2024, the situation came to a head as she was handed a second recall notice coupled with an abrupt termination letter, with no reasons cited.
Her employment was terminated, and her bank account was frozen, leaving her unable to access her salary or conduct everyday transactions.
In response, Logose filed a suit in the High Court using Signum Advocates as her lawyers, seeking a formal declaration that the bank’s actions were illegal and unlawful. She is demanding the return of the vehicle or compensation equivalent to its full market value, UGX 41 million, in addition to UGX 4 million in special damages for transport costs incurred since her car’s seizure.
She also seeks general and exemplary damages for reputational harm, emotional stress, interest at 23% on all sums, and the court’s costs.
While her legal case focuses tightly on breach of contract, conversion and violation of the banker-customer relationship, sources close to the matter suggest the root cause may lie in internal workplace discrimination, which many staffers have been accusing the Salaam Bank management of.
A former employee, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal said there appeared to be a silent purge of Christian staff, alleging: “Over the past year, Christian employees have been quietly pushed out. They’re being replaced by Muslims who are close to senior management.”
Such allegations, if proven, could plunge the bank into a whistleblower-style scandal and invite regulatory scrutiny from the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the Bank of Uganda.
These allegations have not been independently verified, and Salaam Bank has declined public comment, citing pending litigation.
However, legal experts say that if a pattern of religious discrimination is established, the bank could face serious sanctions under Uganda’s constitutional anti-discrimination provisions, employment law, and possibly the Equal Opportunities Commission Act. The lawsuit arrives with heavy symbolic weight.
Salaam Bank, launched by President Yoweri Museveni in March 2024 at Kololo Independence Grounds, was hailed as a welcoming innovation in Uganda’s banking sector. It emerged from a years-long delay in licensing Islamic finance, with the Bank of Uganda granting the license in September 2023, the first such approval in over two decades.
During the license handover, then BoU Deputy Governor Michael Atingi-Ego praised the bank for its promise and Sharia‑based model, describing Islamic banking as “a more sustainable form of banking well-suited to the needs of many Ugandans.”
Yet, the ambition of the bank has not been without friction. In 2019, some Christian clergy such as Pastor Stephen Waiswa of Bible Evangelism Ministries openly opposed Islamic banking, describing it as “a subtle way of spreading Islam” in a country with a Christian majority.
In response, Muslim leaders like Mufti Sheikh Ramadhan Mubajje and the late Supreme Mufti Sheikh Silman Kasule Ndirangwa urged religious tolerance, reinforcing the legitimacy of Islamic finance in Uganda’s pluralistic society.
Now, as legal proceedings loom, observers spanning financial, human rights, and labor sectors are keenly watching what could become a precedent-setting case addressing employee rights, religious discrimination and the practical enforcement of Sharia-based finance practices in Uganda’s mainstream banking system.
Despite the immense personal and financial pressure she has endured, Logose has shown remarkable resolve. “They thought I would just walk away,” she is reported to have told a close confidante. “But I’m not going quietly.”
As the story unfolds in court in the coming weeks, many will be following closely, not just for Logose’s individual justice, but for what this case may reveal about the intersections of faith, fairness and financial innovation in Uganda. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
