Formerly Oundo & Company Advocates, Citadel Advocates is the Ugandan constituent firm of Citadel Law Africa, a network of independent law firms and consultants across the East Africa region.
The shared history, vision and values of our member firms enables us to provide our clients with a seamless and consistent service, wherever they are located. The firm’s in-depth knowledge and understanding of East Africa is our competitive advantage which enables us to offer unique solutions by drawing from cross border experience within the region. Our practice is focused on project finance, infrastructure, energy, banking and finance, telecoms, technology, corporate commercial, real estate, tax advisory and compliance services.
Through-out Citadel Advocates, there is an underlying sense of pride in who we are and what we do. We achieve excellence through collective effort, empathy and a willingness to share expertise and knowledge.
The scope and variety of our client service is such that it suits many different industry sectors and yet unified by a shared commitment to quality of service and results.
We aim to offer our clients a distinctive client service and we do this by ensuring that we always challenge ourselves to bring new and original ways of thinking to the complex legal challenges our clients face.
We strive to uphold our values in everything we do, in the decisions we make and in the way we interact with people.
We understand the legal, commercial, geopolitical and technical issues that affect different industry sectors and have first hand relationships with both private and public sector players in Uganda and the region as a whole.
Our clients receive end-to-end solutions from advisory to implementation, a key value differentiation for our offering.
We want to be the regional law firm of choice for leading businesses and organizations of today and tomorrow. We work in collaboration and partnership with our clients and wider stakeholders to secure their long-term, sustainable success.
We are committed to act as an ethical and responsible business that recognizes that the world we operate in is changing and that we too must be ready to change if we are to continue to lead and shape our sector.
We are proactively cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment through leadership accountability, policies and practices, client and community outreach.
Our diversity makes our regional community stronger, more interesting and richer in thought, and helps us in solving complex problems, and designing practical solutions for our clients. Diverse teams make innovation possible, provide us greater insight into client needs and lead to better performance.
Innovation is about doing things differently – unleashing the imagination of our people to challenge the present and shape the future. Innovation lies at the core of our purpose of delivering legal services in a changing world. Our legal advice, the way we deliver our services to clients and the way we run our business.
We believe the best responses to the challenges brought about by change, whether commercial, geo-political or cultural, require creative, innovative and collaborative thinking.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS and PRIVATE EQUITY
Our Mergers &Acquisition (M&A) practice is geared towards helping companies in their growth process usually in relation to an acquisition, divestment or financing solution to grow a new or existing business.
Our team draws from diverse professionals and among team members are Certified Public Accountants. Our clients get the most value if they engage our experts to provide the full suite of M&A support services
We are a relationship driven firm and advise clients on most complex and important transactions. We are at the forefront of developing innovative structures to simplify the complexities inherent in corporate deals – in established and emerging markets. Our experience extends beyond transactional work and we also look after our clients through every stage of the life-cycle.
BANKING & FINANCE
The past few years have been challenging for financial institutions and have required fresh thinking to adjust to the continually changing economic, political, and regulatory conditions. Our banking and finance lawyers draw on deep product expertise and regularly work alongside our regulatory, litigation, restructuring, and other specialists to develop innovative solutions for our clients, often incorporating complex financing techniques applicable to the industry.
TELECOMS, MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The TMT sector in Uganda is one of the fastest-growing. Whether you are a multinational mobile network operator or a disruptive technology start-up, our experienced team is available to navigate you through the licensing process and guide your business in this nascent and evolving practice area.
Our team includes a former Senior Legal Manager at American Tower Corporation who worked on prominent deals in the passive infrastructure sector including operationalization of the joint venture between American Tower Corporation Inc. and MTN Group.
We have also built reliable relationships with the regulator and ICT Ministry. One of our lawyers co-chaired the UCC Communications Industry Working Group on Telecom Infrastructure Sharing that developed the Draft Telecoms Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines.
ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES
We have garnered over 10 years’ experience in the Energy and Resources sector. From our deep sector expertise and experience. We provide legal, advisory and business support services to a broad range of clients with a strong foothold and participation in the energy sector.
We understand the sector and its underlying drivers and therefore well placed to work with power companies and utilities alike to achieve their commercial ends.
PPPs, PROJECTS & INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure projects, Acquisitions, Financings and Privatizations require strong analytical skills and public sector experience. With our live fire experience in the Uganda’s public divesture process, we provide clients with integrated services and guide them through critical issues on the most complex transactions and disputes.
We advise commercial banks, private equity firms, contractors and project sponsors on their involvement with large private and public projects.
Our team is at forefront of advising on the major Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in Uganda delivering sound and innovative solutions to clients on all aspects from bidding where applicable to design, procurement, financing and operational issues.
From the very beginning we have had a respectful, regional and international client base whilst maintaining a reputation for excellence. Over the years we have been at the forefront of many significant legal developments and have striven to maintain our position as one of the leading law firms in Uganda and the region.
While we keep evolving, we are proud of our story so far and we continue to uphold our principles and culture behind the firms’ successful existence.
Christopher Luwaga
Managing Partner
Bernard Oundo
Partner
Daniel Malingu
Partner
Moses Kwoba
Associate Partner
Mercy Sasira
Practice Manager
Millicent Kemigisha
Associate
Henry Waiswa
Associate
Denis Ssebugwawo
Accountant
Hilda Nabwire
Administrative Assistant
Proscovia F. Nantume
Registrar
With a broad range of clients from new business ventures, SMEs’ and Large companies and organizations, find our happy clients list who span every industry. We’re proud to have established relationships in most major industries.
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"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom."- John Locke