Wakilii

Balamaga v Matayo & 2 Others (Civil Appeal 49 of 2018)

High Court · [2021] UGHC 66 · 2021 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Chief Magistrate's Court decision declaring appellant a trespasser and ordering eviction
Decision
Appeal dismissed; trial court's eviction order and declaration of trespass upheld, subject to finding that appellant is bonafide occupant of the 8-acre inherited kibanja

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court on appeal found that the appellant qualified as a bonafide occupant under Land Act s.29(2) having been in unchallenged occupation through his predecessors for over twelve years before the 1995 Constitution. However, the court held that the appellant only had bonafide occupancy rights over the 8-acre kibanja inherited from his father, not the additional 10 acres he encroached upon. The appeal was dismissed with costs because the appellant failed to pay the required annual nominal ground rent and unlawfully occupied land beyond his inherited kibanja.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; trial court's eviction order and declaration of trespass upheld, subject to finding that appellant is bonafide occupant of the 8-acre inherited kibanja

Facts

The respondents, administrators of the estate of the late Leo Kafeero and joint registered proprietors of Singo Block 211 Plot 1, sued the appellant for trespass, alleging he illegally occupied 17.5 acres. The appellant claimed he was a bonafide occupant and kibanja holder, having inherited 8 acres from his late father Tofili Mukasa, whose father had occupied the land since 1928 with burial grounds. Evidence showed over 70 tenants on the land. From 2009-2010, after the landlords emerged, meetings were held where tenants were required to either pay ground rent (busuulu) or purchase their interests. The appellant attended these meetings and contributed to the tenant association but refused to pay ground rent for 8 years, claiming the respondents were not the lawful landlords. The trial court found him a trespasser and ordered eviction.

Issues

  1. Whether the appellant is a bonafide occupant on the suit land.
  2. Whether the trial Magistrate properly evaluated the evidence regarding the appellant's kibanja rights.
  3. Whether the order for costs was properly made.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed with costs in the High Court and in the court below.
  • Appellant declared bonafide occupant only of the 8-acre kibanja inherited from his father.
  • Eviction order against appellant for the additional 10 acres upheld.

Rules and key headnotes

Land Law — Bonafide Occupancy — Definition and Requirements under Land Act s.29(2)
A bonafide occupant under Land Act s.29(2) is a person who, before the coming into force of the 1995 Constitution, had occupied and utilized or developed registered land unchallenged by the registered owner for twelve years or more. The right to bonafide occupancy must be actual or real and based on unchallenged occupation; occupation through predecessors in title may establish the required twelve-year period.
Land Law — Bonafide Occupancy — Key Elements for Establishing Status
In determining bonafide occupancy status, the key and essential ingredients are occupation and utilization of the land by a person for more than twelve years unchallenged by the registered proprietor before the 1995 Constitution, not the existence of a landlord-tenant relationship.
Land Law — Lawful and Bonafide Occupants — Protection from Eviction
Under Land Act s.32(a) as amended by Act No. 1 of 2010, a lawful or bonafide tenant shall not be evicted from registered land except upon an order of eviction issued by a court and only for non-payment of the annual nominal ground rent.
Costs — Discretion of Court
Civil Procedure Act s.27(1) confers upon the court full discretion to determine by whom and to what extent costs incidental to all suits are to be paid. As a general rule, the successful party is entitled to an award of costs and costs follow the event.

Legislation cited (6)

Cases cited (3)

  • Celle v Associated Motor Boat Ltd [1968] EA 23
  • Lwanga Musoke v Sam Galiwango (SCCA No. 48 of 1995)
  • Kampala District Land Board and Chemical Distributors v National Housing Construction Corporation (Civil Appeal No. 2 of 2004)

Full judgment

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

Balamaga v Matayo & 2 Others (Civil Appeal 49 of 2018) [2021] UGHC 66 (10 February 2021)
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.