Rushegyera v Bushenyi, Ishaka Towun Council (Civil Appeal 26 of 1999)

Court of Appeal · [2001] UGCA 24 · 2001 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Civil appeal from a High Court judgment dismissing a suit for a declaration of land ownership

Decision

Appeal dismissed; trial judge's dismissal of the suit upheld; appellant entitled only to recover survey fees paid

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (treatment unverified) Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the appellant had only been granted temporary permission to occupy unsurveyed land, not a lease. A memorandum inviting payment of survey fees and a receipt acknowledging that payment did not constitute an enforceable lease because they failed to ascertain the essential terms — the premises, the commencement and duration of the term, and the rent or consideration. Mere payment of survey fees conferred no ownership but at most an equitable interest pending the Controlling Authority's decision. Occupation of land the controlling authority had agreed to alienate remains on sufferance until registration. The appellant failed to furnish proof of legal title and was entitled only to a refund of survey fees.

Facts

In 1980 the appellant was allocated an unsurveyed piece of land in Bushenyi Township for the purpose of erecting a temporary lock-up shop. Mr. S. Mpairwe was similarly allocated the adjacent plot, and other people received similar facilities. These temporary allocations were made pending zoning and lease allocation by the District Land Board, which had power to issue titles to allocatees who later applied. In October 1986 the respondent informed the appellant that his plot had been surveyed and called on him to pay survey fees, markstone costs and a premium. The appellant paid Shs.160,000 as deposits of survey fees for plots 23 and 25, and in 1987 applied for a lease and submitted building plans. In 1996, before approval of the plans or grant of a lease, the respondent's committee withdrew plot 23 from the appellant and allocated it to Mr. Mpairwe. The appellant sued seeking a declaration that plot 23 belonged to him and damages for breach of contract. The trial judge found there had been no allocation, only temporary permission, and dismissed the suit.

Issues

Whether the disputed plots Nos. 23 and 25 Block J had been allocated or leased to the appellant.
Whether the memorandum (ExP3) and receipt for survey fees (ExP4) together constituted a valid and enforceable lease.
Whether legal title to the suit land had vested in the appellant such that he was entitled to the remedies sought.

Orders

Appeal dismissed with costs here and below.

Key headnotes

Leases — Essential Terms of an Enforceable Lease

To constitute an enforceable lease the following must be ascertained: the parties, the premises, the commencement and duration of the term, and the rent or other consideration to be paid; these are the cardinal essential terms of an enforceable lease.

Land Transactions — Payment of Survey Fees Does Not Create a Lease

A memorandum inviting payment of survey fees and a receipt acknowledging such payment do not constitute a valid and enforceable lease where the documents are silent as to the rent, mode of payment, commencement and duration of the term and the covenants; mere payment of survey fees confers no ownership but at most an equitable interest.

Public Land — Occupation Pending Registration of Grant

Any occupation or use by a grantee of land which the controlling authority has agreed to alienate shall, until registration of the grant, be on sufferance only and at the sole risk of such grantee.

Burden of Proof — Proof of Legal Title to Land

A party claiming legal title to land bears the onus of furnishing concrete proof of that title; where a minute alleged to evidence a lease grant is not produced in court, the presumption is that it did not exist.

Legislation cited (2)

Public Lands Act No. 13 of 1969 s.22
Public Land Rules (Statutory Instrument 201-1) rule 10

Cases cited (3)

Marshall vs Berridge 19 Ch. D 233
Lace vs Chautler (1944) 1 KB 368 at 370
Harner vs Pratt (1965) 2 ALR 7f16

Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.