Wakilii

Akuzewo v Jinja Municipal Council (Misc Cause 6 of 2020)

High Court · [2023] UGHCCD 303 · 2023 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review of administrative decision stopping construction works
Decision
Application granted; unlawful administrative decision quashed; applicant permitted to continue construction; compensation and damages awarded

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the Town Clerk's decision to stop construction works without affording the applicant a hearing violated principles of natural justice and constituted procedural impropriety. The decision was quashed by certiorari. An administrative body exercising public functions must accord a fair hearing before making decisions that adversely affect individual rights, particularly where economic interests are at stake. Compensation awarded for losses occasioned by the unlawful administrative action.

Outcome

Application granted; unlawful administrative decision quashed; applicant permitted to continue construction; compensation and damages awarded

Facts

The applicant was allocated space by Jinja Municipal Council to construct a council shop and public toilet. She secured approval of site plans and commenced construction after committing resources. On 11 February 2020, the Town Clerk stopped the construction works by letter, citing complaints from neighbours about rear access being blocked and from National Water and Sewerage Corporation about disruption to services. The applicant was not given an opportunity to respond to the complaints before the stop order was issued. She filed for judicial review, alleging that the Town Clerk acted illegally, irrationally and with procedural impropriety by stopping the works without hearing her, in violation of principles of natural justice guaranteed under Article 42 of the Constitution.

Issues

  1. Whether the application raises issues for judicial review?
  2. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • Application for judicial review allowed.
  • An order of Certiorari issued quashing the decision of the Town Clerk Jinja Municipal Council dated 11 February 2020 stopping the applicant from construction works.
  • An order of Prohibition restraining the Respondent from interfering with the construction works.
  • The Applicant awarded compensation for loss of UGX 12,532,000 occasioned by the Respondent's decision to halt the construction works.
  • The Applicant awarded general damages of UGX 20,000,000.
  • Interest of 10% per annum on the damages awarded from the date of ruling until payment in full.
  • Costs of the application awarded to the Applicant.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Grounds — Procedural Impropriety — Fair Hearing
An administrative decision that adversely affects a person's rights or interests must be preceded by a fair hearing, and failure to accord such a hearing constitutes procedural impropriety rendering the decision susceptible to judicial review.
Administrative Law — Natural Justice — Audi Alteram Partem — Economic Rights
Where an administrative body makes a decision halting economic activities that have already commenced and in which resources have been invested, the duty to act fairly requires that the affected party be given an opportunity to respond to complaints before the decision is made.
Judicial Review — Scope — Administrative Decisions Distinguished from Contractual Disputes
Judicial review is concerned with the lawfulness of the decision-making process, not with the merits of the decision itself or with matters of contractual breach between parties; where a dispute concerns terms of a contract rather than exercise of public statutory powers, it is a matter of private law not susceptible to judicial review.
Administrative Law — Remedies — Certiorari — Prohibition
Where an administrative decision is vitiated by procedural impropriety, the court may issue an order of certiorari quashing the unlawful decision and an order of prohibition restraining the administrative body from continuing the unlawful conduct.
Administrative Law — Damages in Judicial Review — Compensation for Loss
In an application for judicial review, the court may award damages or compensation to the applicant for loss occasioned by the unlawful administrative action, provided the applicant has included a claim for damages in the motion and the court is satisfied that damages could have been awarded if the claim had been made in an ordinary action.

Legislation cited (9)

Cases cited (20)

  • Ridge v Baldwin [1964] AC 40
  • Clear Channel Independent (U) Ltd v PPDA (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 380 of 2008)
  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for Civil Service [1985] AC 374
  • Dr. Stella Nyanzi v Makerere University (Miscellaneous Cause No. 304 of 2018)
  • Arua Kubala Park Operators and Market Vendors' Cooperative Society Limited v Arua Municipal Council (Miscellaneous Cause No. 3 of 2016)
  • Associated Provincial Picture Houses Limited v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223
  • Chief Constable of North Wales Police v Evans [1982] 3 All ER 141
  • Kassibo Joshua v Commissioner of Customs Uganda Revenue Authority (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 44 of 2007)
  • Ignatius Loyola Malungu v Inspector General of Government (Miscellaneous Cause No. 59 of 2016) [2017] UGHCCD 196
  • Pastoli v Kabale District Local Government Council & Others [2008] 2 EA 300
  • His Worship Aggrey Bwiire v Attorney General (Civil Appeal No. 9 of 2009)
  • Oyaro v Kitgum Municipal Council (Miscellaneous Cause No. 7 of 2018) [2018] UGHCCD 40
  • Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) 1999 CanLII 699 (SCC)
  • Chief Constable of North Wales Police v Evans [1982] 1 WLR 1155
  • Arua Kubala Park Operators and Market Vendors Cooperative Society Ltd v Arua Municipal Council (Miscellaneous Cause No. 3 of 2016) [2018] UGHCCD 6
  • John Jet Tumwebaze v Makerere University Council and Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 353 of 2005)
  • The King v Electricity Commissioners Ex parte London Electricity Joint Committee [1924] 1 KB 171
  • Re An Application by Bikoba Gymkhana Club [1963] EA 473
  • R v Inland Revenue Commissioners Ex parte National Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses Ltd [1982] AC 617
  • R v National Council for Dental Technicians Ex parte Meatel [1935] 1 QB 704

Full judgment

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Akuzewo v Jinja Municipal Council (Misc Cause 6 of 2020) [2023] UGHCCD 303 (1 September 2023)
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.