My name is Kato, and I am a businessman operating in Kampala. I have always believed that genuine friendship is founded on trust, honesty and supporting one another during challenging moments.
However, an unfortunate experience with someone I considered my closest friend taught me a painful lesson about lending money to people you trust.Kabanda and I had maintained a close friendship for several years.
We shared business plans, talked about our personal struggles and celebrated one another’s successes. Given the strong bond we had developed over the years, I never imagined that a financial matter would eventually threaten our friendship.
One day, Kabanda came to me and explained that he was going through a difficult financial situation. He said he urgently needed money and assured me that he would repay it within the period we agreed upon.“He appeared genuinely concerned, and because he was my closest friend, I had no reason to doubt him. I trusted him completely and believed he would honour his promise.
Without hesitation, I eventually lent him Shs20 million, confident that he would repay me as agreed.”Initially, everything seemed to be going well. Kabanda continued communicating with me, and I assumed he was preparing to fulfil his repayment obligations.
However, things took a different turn when the agreed deadline arrived, and his attitude towards me began changing unexpectedly.Whenever I contacted him to inquire about the money, he came up with different excuses. At times, he claimed that his business was struggling financially.
On other occasions, he promised to settle the debt shortly, but those promises never translated into actual payment.“I decided to exercise patience because I did not want to ruin a friendship we had built over so many years. I explained to him that I also needed the money, but despite my reminders, he kept pushing the repayment date further.”Matters became even more frustrating when Kabanda stopped answering my phone calls and responding to my messages.
I tried contacting him through different communication channels, hoping we could sit down, discuss the issue and find a reasonable solution to the problem.It was then that I realised he had blocked my number.“I was completely devastated. How could someone I regarded as a brother borrow Shs20 million from me and then block me simply because I wanted my money back? I felt deeply betrayed, humiliated and angry because I had placed so much trust in him.
”I continued looking for ways to reach him, but he remained determined to avoid communicating with me. What hurt me most was his apparent unwillingness to recognise how serious the matter had become. From my experience, he refused to take responsibility for repaying the money and failed to make any payment despite my repeated attempts to recover it.
For a long time, I struggled to understand how our once-strong friendship had deteriorated so badly. I had extended financial assistance to Kabanda because I genuinely believed he was a trustworthy friend, yet I suddenly found myself fighting to recover my own money.
“I began reflecting on everything we had experienced together over the years. I could not understand how someone who had shared countless memories with me could suddenly treat me like a complete stranger, as though our friendship had never existed.”During this difficult period, I came across information about.To read more, tap here t
