Musisi Dirisa and Others v Sietuo (U) Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 24 of 1993)

Supreme Court · [1994] UGSC 63 · 1994 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Civil appeal from the High Court's dismissal of a personal-injury suit

Decision

Appeal dismissed; High Court's dismissal of the suit upheld

The full judgment

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The appellants sued for personal injuries sustained when their bus collided with the respondent's road grader. Although the respondent was found solely responsible for the accident, the trial judge dismissed the suit because the appellants failed to prove the injuries pleaded. The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal, holding that the evidential burden does not shift to a defendant unless the plaintiff first adduces cogent and credible evidence. The appellants' evidence was materially at variance with their pleadings, so they were taken to have abandoned them, and the expert medical evidence lacked any clinical or radiological foundation. Where injuries cannot be established, no general damages can be awarded. Appeal dismissed with costs.

Facts

The four appellants were passengers on a bus belonging to Uganda Transport Company (1975) Ltd which, in May 1988, collided with the respondent's road grader at Nakawa along the Kampala-Jinja Road. They sued the respondent and the bus company for general and special damages, alleging personal injuries. The trial judge found the respondent solely responsible for the accident but held that the appellants had failed to prove that they were fare-paying passengers or that they had sustained the injuries claimed. The appellants produced no bus tickets, no police traffic accident report, and no Mulago Hospital medical records. Their oral testimony as to the injuries differed materially from their pleadings, which generally alleged "multiple fractures." The only medical evidence, from Professor Ssekabunga, was based on a superficial examination conducted long after the accident and on what the appellants told him, without supporting clinical or radiological records.

Issues

Whether the appellants proved that they sustained the injuries pleaded so as to justify an award of damages.
Whether the evidential burden shifted to the respondent to disprove the appellants' claim that they were injured in the accident.
Whether the trial judge erred in rejecting the expert medical evidence of Professor Ssekabunga.

Orders

Appeal dismissed with costs to the respondent here and in the court below.

Key headnotes

Evidence — Burden of Proof — Shifting of the evidential burden

The evidential burden does not shift to the defendant unless the plaintiff has first produced cogent and credible evidence on the issue.

Evidence — Expert Evidence — Scientific basis for medical opinion

An expert witness, including a medical doctor, must provide a scientific base for his opinion before the court can accept his findings; a medical opinion unsupported by clinical or radiological records is of little or no value.

Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Variance between pleadings and evidence

Where a plaintiff's evidence is materially at variance with the particulars of injury in his pleadings, he is taken to have abandoned those pleadings.

Tort Law — Personal Injury — Proof of injury as a condition of damages

Assessment of damages depends on the injuries proved to have been sustained; where the injuries cannot be established, no general damages can be awarded even though the defendant is liable for the accident.

Legislation cited (1)

Rules of the Court r.97 (written arguments)

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.