A former employee of Salaam Bank, Ann Logose, has dragged the institution to court, accusing the bank of unfair dismissal, discrimination, and abuse of contract under an Islamic financing agreement known as the Murabaha Facility.
Logose, who served as an Applications Support Officer from January 2023 to December 2024, claims she was illegally terminated after a series of questionable actions by bank management, including the forcible repossession of her car and denial of a promised salary advance.
According to a source close to Salaam Bank, who revealed to the media recently, Logose’s ordeal began when she received a car loan under the Murabaha Facility in August 2024, which was officially approved on September 5, 2024.
The bank sold her a Subaru Impreza (UBR 482M) for UGX 40.3 million, with monthly deductions of UGX 671,706 scheduled to start on 25th October 2024.
However, after Logose took a UGX 3.6 million friendly loan from a colleague to pay for comprehensive insurance and a car tracker, she says the bank turned hostile. She was summoned without prior notice to a top management meeting where she was pressured to explain the source of the money.
Following the meeting, she was told to apply for a salary advance, with promises of fast approval. But the bank never fulfilled that promise.
Then, on December 2, 2024, the bank’s HR Manager, Ms. Serah Sanyu, asked Logose to escort her to her father-in-law’s home in Naalya, where the car was parked. Once there, the manager allegedly drove the car away without her consent, took it to the head office, locked it, and refused to return the keys even denying Logose access to her personal belongings inside.
The bank later demanded that Logose pay the full balance of the car loan nearly UGX 38 million within 15 days.
Two days later, on December 4, 2024, Logose received a formal letter from the Bank’s Managing Director recalling the Murabaha Facility.
On December 20, 2024, she was served with a termination letter, effectively ending her employment.
Despite her appeal and the intervention of the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, including a formal complaint by the Commissioner of Labour, the bank remained firm. She was left with no option but to take legal action.
“There was no default on my part. They used this loan issue as an excuse to get rid of me,” what happened to me is happening to others too, especially those who don’t share the same faith,” Logose insisted in her complaint, according to the source.
The same source close to Salaam Bank confirmed that Logose’s case may not be isolated. Other former employees, most of whom are non-Muslims, claim they were also dismissed without clear reasons.
“There’s growing concern that religion is influencing decisions at the bank,” some of the fired staff believe their Christian faith played a role in their termination,” the source said.
Logose, through her lawyers, is now suing Salaam Bank for, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, discrimination and damages and legal costs.
Her legal team is confident the evidence including formal letters, messages, and documents from the bank will support her case.
The outcome of the lawsuit could have wider implications for Salaam Bank, which operates under Islamic banking principles but is now being accused of unfair labor practices and religious bias.
