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Aryeija Emuna Enterprizes SMC Limited v Patrick Wangwa and Another (Civil Suit No. 19 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGCOMMC 329 · 2025 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for recovery of loan amount with interlocutory judgment entered after defendants failed to file defence
Decision
Judgment entered for Plaintiff for recovery of UGX 60,500,000/= plus UGX 5,000,000/= general damages with interest on general damages at 6% per annum from judgment date and costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that where defendants fail to repay a loan after interlocutory judgment is entered for non-filing of defence, the plaintiff is entitled to recover the principal sum, accrued contractual interest, general damages for economic loss and deprivation of use of funds, and costs. Court declined to award further interest on the decretal sum where parties had agreed to a monthly interest rate of 10%, but awarded 6% per annum on general damages from judgment date.

Outcome

Judgment entered for Plaintiff for recovery of UGX 60,500,000/= plus UGX 5,000,000/= general damages with interest on general damages at 6% per annum from judgment date and costs

Facts

On 5 January 2023, the Plaintiff lent the Defendants UGX 25,500,000/= at a monthly interest rate of 10%, repayable by 5 June 2023. The Defendants pledged as security their certificate of title for Block 167 Plot 1341 Kyadondo County, land at Kiwala, registered in the 1st Defendant's name. The Defendants failed to repay either the principal or interest by the due date. Summons to file defence were served on the Defendants on 24 February 2025, but no defence was filed. On 4 July 2025, interlocutory judgment was entered against the Defendants under Order 9 rule 8 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The Plaintiff claimed UGX 60,500,000/= as the outstanding balance on principal and interest. The Plaintiff lodged a caveat on the suit land to protect its interest.

Issues

  1. Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to general damages?
  2. Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to interest and costs of the suit?

Orders

  • The Defendants shall pay the Plaintiff the sum of UGX 60,500,000/= being the outstanding principal sum and the accrued interest owed by the Defendants arising from the loan agreement.
  • The Plaintiff is awarded the sum of UGX 5,000,000/= as general damages.
  • The Plaintiff is awarded interest at the rate of 6% per annum on the general damages from the date of Judgment until payment in full.
  • The costs of the suit are awarded to the Plaintiff.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Default Judgment — Formal Proof — Duty of Plaintiff
Where the court sets down a suit for formal proof after a default order has been made, the plaintiff is under a duty to place before the court evidence to sustain the averments in the plaint.
Contract Law — Breach of Contract — Compensation for Loss or Damage
Section 60(1) of the Contracts Act empowers the court to award compensation for any loss or damage caused to one party due to another's breach of contract, and in estimating the loss, the court must consider the means of remedying the inconvenience caused by the non-performance that existed at the time.
Damages & Quantum — General Damages — Measure and Purpose
The general rule regarding the measure of general damages is that the award is such a sum of money that will put the party who has been injured or who has suffered as adjudged by court in the same position as he or she would have been had he or she not sustained the wrong for which he or she is getting the compensation. General damages should be compensatory in that they should restore some satisfaction, as far as money can do, to the injured plaintiff.
Damages & Quantum — Assessment of Quantum — Guiding Factors
While assessing the quantum of damages, courts are mainly guided by the value of the subject matter, the economic inconvenience that a party might have been put through, and the nature and extent of the breach or injury suffered.
Banking & Finance — Loan Recovery — Interest on Decretal Sum — Discretion of Court
Where parties have agreed to a contractual interest rate on a loan, the court may in its discretion decline to award further interest on the decretal sum in the interest of justice, having regard to the agreed rate already incorporated in the principal claim.
Civil Procedure — Costs — Costs Follow the Event
Costs of any cause follow the event unless otherwise ordered by the court. A successful party can only be denied costs if it is proved that but for his or her conduct, the action would not have been brought; costs will follow the event where the party succeeds in the main purpose of the suit.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (8)

  • Assist (U) Ltd v Italian Asphalt and Haulage & Another (HCCS No. 7 of 1999)
  • Hajji Asuman Mutekanga v Equator Growers (U) Ltd (SCCA No. 7 of 1995)
  • Kirungi and Another v Kabiya and Others [1987] KLR 347
  • Kabandize John Baptist and 21 Others v Kampala Capital City Authority (CACA No. 36 of 2016)
  • Takiya Kashwahiri and Another v Kajungu Denis (CACA No. 85 of 2011)
  • Uganda Commercial Bank v Deo Kigozi [2002] 1 EA 305
  • Milly Masembe v Sugar Corporation (U) Ltd and Another (SCCA No. 1 of 2000)
  • Uganda Development Bank v Muganga Construction Co. Ltd [1981] HCB 35

Full judgment

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

Aryeija Emuna Enterprizes SMC Limited v Patrick Wangwa and Another (Civil Suit No. 19 of 2025) [2025] UGCommC 329 (4 September 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.