Michael Ezra | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Ugandan |
Occupation(s) | Businessman (Owner, SunSpace International; Founding Patron, ETTB) |
Years active | since 2002 |
Known for | sports, philanthropy and wealth |
Michael Ezra Mulyoowa is believed to be one of the wealthiest Africans.[1] He is reported to own Sunspace International, a holding company registered in the Seychelles, and a founding patron of the Ezra Track Team Board, a sports philanthropic financing and talent search agency. He is a philanthropist known for his donations towards sporting causes in his home country in the early 2000s.[2]
Born in Kampala, Uganda on 20 July 1973,[3] Michael Ezra is a former Uganda national team sprinter.
He was born to Beatrice Nantongo, a retired Commissioner with the Uganda Police. He is the second of five siblings with two sisters, Hope and Beatrice, and two brothers, Patrick and Martin. He is an alumnus of Kitante Primary and Makerere College Schools.
Since around 2003 he has been a subject of intrigue in the local Ugandan media, especially the tabloids, being praised and vilified in almost equal measure.
The source (and true size) of his immense wealth remains a closely guarded secret. His known investment vehicle is SunSpace International. It is reported that his investments in Dubai (U.A.E.) alone stand at over $1.5 billion, with the bulk of it in real estate.
In August 2010, upon arrival in his home country, the local media reported that Michael Ezra had not remitted taxes to the tune of USh 1.1 billion (approximately US$500,000) to the Uganda government. This prompted the tax body, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), to request a travel ban on him and the freezing of his assets.[23] Around the same time it was alleged that Michael Ezra was ordered by the Commercial Court in Uganda to pay back a loan of 430,000,000/= (approx. $195,000), plus interest, to National Bank of Commerce (Uganda).[24]
In September 2010, he called a press conference at the luxurious Emin Pasha hotel in Kampala and displayed a stack of $3 million dollars as though to prove that he was not broke as alleged in the Ugandan media.[25][26]
In February 2011, Michael Ezra was arrested by the Kenyan police. It was said Ezra had not honoured court summons to defend himself against allegations that he issued a cheque worth $200,000, which was dishonoured, to a Kenyan company.[27] Ezra, through his lawyers, denied the charges. His lawyer argued that the offence was a misdemeanor and bailable. He further argued that Ezra was a prominent international businessman who owned numerous properties in Kenya and was not arrested but handed himself to the authorities and therefore was not a flight risk. The Judge granted him bail of KSh 6,000,000/= ($78,000).[28] Ezra's lawyer claimed in court that a Kenyan businessman was framing his client with the intention of extorting money from him.[29]
In July 2013, he was acquitted on charges of issuing bounced cheques.[30][31]
He was NewVision's Man of the Year (2006) having been runner up to the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, from 2003 to 2005 and later in 2007.[32] Michael Ezra is entrenched in the hearts of many of his countrymen as a hero thanks to his philanthropic exploits, especially toward national teams in dire straits.