KAMPALA — South African law firm Bowmans has named Mr. Earnest Wiltshire Kalibbala as Uganda Managing Partner with effect from September 1, 2019.
The Sandton, Johannesburg, headquartered law firm, which also has offices in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, UK among other countries announced that Mr. Kalibbala will lead the firm’s development, oversee daily growth and set improvement strategies.
Mr. Kalibbala replaces Mr. William Kasozi who ha served for 10 years.
“Award winning African law firm BOWMANS announces new managing partner for it’s Kampala Office (AF Mpanga Advocates) with Ernest K. Wiltshire (below) replacing William Kasozi as Managing Partner effective 1st September 2019,” reads a statement on its website.
“Ernest Wiltshire is a partner in our Kampala office,” the law firm added.
Mr. Kalibbala’s main practice areas are corporate and commercial law, tax law, employment law, local and international arbitration, and litigation.
He specialises in foreign direct investment, legal due diligence and audit, labour relations and retirement benefits, product liability litigation, and the regulation of non-governmental organisations, immigration and tax law.
He holds an LLB (Hons) from Makerere University Uganda, and an LLM from the University of Cambridge, UK.
He is also a lecturer of law at Makerere University.
The shakeup comes in the wake of fallout of following the controversial sale of Crane Bank Ltd by the Bank of Uganda, a transaction that sucked in one firm’s lawyers, David F.K. Mpanga, who was later barred from the Central Bank representation in the resulting case that is before court.
In December 2017, citing conflict of interest, the High Court’s Commercial Division disqualified law firms MMAKS Advocates and AF Mpanga Advocates (Bowmans) from representing the Bank of Uganda in the case where the central bank/Crane Bank In Receivership sued Kampala businessman Sudhir Ruparelia and Meera Investments for allegedly fleecing former Crane Bank Limited of Shs397 billion.
The above decision came after Sudhir applied to court seeking that they be barred from representing BoU and any other institution where Ruparelia Group is involved.
The lawyers formerly worked for Ruparelia Group and therefore had predicial facts to him and Ruparelia Group and were considered conflicted by the court.
