Advent City Limited and Another v Tropical Bank Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 2805 of 2025)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

The court granted conditional leave to appear and defend a summary suit for loan recovery. Although the applicants raised disputes regarding the quantum of debt and reliance on insurance proceeds, the court found doubt as to whether the defence was made in good faith. The applicants were required to deposit UGX 100,000,000 in court within 30 days as a condition for leave to defend, given their acknowledged indebtedness and the disputed status of the insurance claim.

Outcome

Conditional leave to defend granted subject to deposit of UGX 100,000,000 in court within 30 days

Facts

The respondent bank advanced a loan of UGX 1,200,000,000 to the first applicant, guaranteed by the second applicant. The loan was used to purchase machinery (Heidelberg Speed Master SM74) which was insured. The applicants claimed to have repaid over UGX 600,000,000 but disputed the respondent's claim of UGX 1,713,884,800 as outstanding. On 13 July 2023, a fire destroyed the machinery. The applicants lodged an insurance claim which was denied by the Insurance Regulatory Authority. An appeal to the Insurance Appeals Tribunal remained pending. Following persistent default, the respondent issued a notice of default on 22 October 2019 and subsequently filed a summary suit for recovery. The applicants sought unconditional leave to defend, arguing disputes over quantum and the pending insurance proceedings.

Issues

1. Whether the applicants ought to be granted unconditional leave to appear and defend Civil Suit No. 1235 of 2025.

Orders

• The applicant is hereby granted conditional leave to appear and defend Civil Suit No. 1235 of 2025.
• The applicants shall deposit UGX 100,000,000 (Uganda shillings one hundred million) in court within 30 days of the date of this order.
• The applicant is to file his defence within ten (10) days from the date herein.
• The respondent shall file a reply to the written statement of defense within 5 days of the defense.
• The parties are to file their pre trial documents within 15 days of filing the reply to the defense.
• The parties are to appear for the scheduling conference on 16th April 2026 at 11am.
• The costs of this application are in the cause in case a defence is filed, but upon default they will be borne by the applicants.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (8)

• Civil Procedure Act Cap. 282 s.98
• Judicature Act Cap. 16 s.37
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I 71-1 Order 36 rule 3(1)
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I 71-1 Order 36 rule 4
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I 71-1 Order 36 rule 8
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I 71-1 Order 52 rule 1
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I 71-1 Order 52 rule 2
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I 71-1 Order 15 rule 3

Cases cited (6)

• Kinyanjui and Another v Thande and Another [1995-1998] 2 EA 159
• Continental Butchery Ltd v Nthiwa (Civil Appeal No. 35 of 1977)
• Geoffrey Gatete and Another v William Kyobe (SCCA No. 07 of 2005)
• Visare Uganda Limited v Muwema and Co. Advocates and Solicitors (Miscellaneous Application Nos. 0826 and 0827 of 2023)
• The Board of Governors Nebbi Town S.S.S v Jaker Food Stores Limited (Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 0062 of 2016)
• Provincial Insurance Co. of East Africa Ltd v Kivuti [1995-1998] 1 EA 283

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.