Stephen Zimula, FCIArb

Stephen Zimula, FCIArb is a Partner at MMAKS Advocates | ALN Uganda, specialising in arbitration and mediation, corporate and commercial litigation, banking and finance, and tax litigation. He has 20 years' experience in dispute resolution across banking and finance, construction, real estate, debt recovery, shareholder disputes, insurance, tax, sale of goods, and general commercial contracts.

Stephen has acted for Diamond Trust Bank Uganda in loan enforcement actions valued in excess of USD 10 million; for ABSA Bank in complex loan enforcement litigation for recovery of sums in excess of USD 7 million; for the Central Bank of Uganda in a suit involving fraudulent conveyancing of securities securing a debt in excess of USD 20 million; and for the United Nations Federal Credit Union, Bank of Africa, and other financial institutions in various loan enforcement actions. He has also successfully acted for a Ugandan investor in resisting a USD 2.8 million tax dispute, for a leading hotel chain in tax challenge proceedings, and for a leading real estate company in CGT resistance challenges before the Tax Appeals Tribunal. In the real estate sector, he has advised the Aga Khan Foundation on its Uganda property portfolio and successfully acted for a local investor in confirmation and quieting of title to thirteen high-value condominium properties, recovering over USD 3 million in mesne profits.

Stephen holds an LL.B from Makerere University (2003) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre (2005), as well as a Diploma in Trial Advocacy from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and serves on the panels of a number of arbitral institutions in the region. He is a member of the Uganda Law Society, East Africa Law Society, and Commonwealth Lawyers Association.