Wakilii

Ainebyona Tindikahwa v Tulinawe (CIVIL APPEAL NO.34 OF 2021)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 235 · 2025 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from the judgment of the Chief Magistrate's Court, Grade 1 Kagadi in Civil Suit No. 07 of 2020
Decision
Appeal dismissed with no order as to costs; trial court's dismissal of the conversion suit upheld on different grounds.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that the trial magistrate erred in allowing a defendant who failed to file a defence within the prescribed time to participate in proceedings that should have proceeded ex parte. However, the court found no evidence of conversion where the defendant returned a similar replacement power saw rather than permanently depriving the plaintiff of ownership. The appeal succeeded on procedural grounds but the substantive outcome — dismissal of the conversion claim — was upheld. No order as to costs.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed with no order as to costs; trial court's dismissal of the conversion suit upheld on different grounds.

Facts

The appellant purchased a power saw for UGX 2,500,000 in November 2018 and engaged the respondent to use it for lumbering timber. The respondent disappeared during the work and later returned on 20 March 2019 with a different power saw bearing a different serial number and product number. The appellant reported conversion to police, and the respondent was arrested but later released. The appellant sued for conversion, mesne profits, and damages. The respondent, though served, failed to file a defence within the prescribed time. The trial magistrate nevertheless allowed the respondent to participate in proceedings, cross-examine witnesses, and testify. The trial court dismissed the suit, finding the case was fabricated to make the respondent pay for unaccounted timber. The appellant appealed.

Issues

  1. Whether the trial magistrate erred in allowing the defendant who did not file a defence to participate in the proceedings and cross-examine the plaintiff's witnesses.
  2. Whether the trial magistrate properly evaluated the evidence on record regarding the taking and alleged conversion of the power saw.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Default of Defence — Right to Participate in Proceedings
Where a party is duly served with summons to file a defence and fails to do so within the prescribed time under Order 9 rules 1, 2 and 3 of the Civil Procedure Rules, that party excludes himself or herself from the proceedings in court and the trial court has no discretion to allow such party to participate in the proceedings, cross-examine witnesses, or adduce evidence.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time for Filing — Computation of Time
In computing the period for filing an appeal under section 79 of the Civil Procedure Act, the time taken by the court or registrar in making a copy of the decree or order appealed against and of the proceedings upon which it is founded must be excluded. Where a memorandum of appeal is filed within time and subsequently amended to add grounds reserved pending receipt of the certified record, the amendment is not out of time in the absence of evidence showing when the certified record was availed to the appellant.
Evidence — Language of Court — Translation of Documents
Under section 88 of the Civil Procedure Act, English is the language of court proceedings and all attachments to pleadings must be translated into English. Where a translated copy of a document is duly filed and received by the court, the trial court errs in law if it overlooks that translated version and rules against the party who filed it on grounds that the document was not translated.
Tort Law — Conversion — Elements — Permanent Deprivation of Ownership
Conversion is the unauthorised assumption and exercise of the right of ownership over goods or personal chattels belonging to another, to the alteration of their condition or the exclusion of the owner's rights, and involves any unauthorised act which deprives an owner of his property permanently or for an indefinite time. Where a defendant returns a similar replacement item rather than the original, and there is no evidence of an intention to permanently deprive the owner of ownership or that the replacement is inferior, there is no conversion.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (4)

  • Fredrick Zaabwe v Orient Bank (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 4 of 2006)
  • Migadde Richard Lubinga and 2 Others v Nakibuule Sandra and 2 Others (High Court Civil Appeal No. 53 of 2019)
  • Twiga Chemical Industries Ltd v Viola Bamusedde (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 9 of 2002)
  • Kaheru Yasin and Another v Zinorumuri (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 82 of 2017)

Full judgment

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

Ainebyona Tindikahwa v Tulinawe (CIVIL APPEAL NO.34 OF 2021) [2025] UGHC 235 (3 February 2025)
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.