Wakilii

Byaruhanga & 2499 Ors v Attorney General & Anor (HCT – 01 – CV – CS – 020 OF 2003)

High Court · [2019] UGHCCD 114 · 2019 Judgment for Plaintiffs AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit originally filed at High Court Kampala (Civil Suit No. 56 of 2001), subsequently transferred to High Court at Fort Portal and renumbered as Civil Suit No. 020 of 2003, with representative order obtained for 2500 plaintiffs.
Decision
Judgment entered in favour of the plaintiffs with declarations, special damages, general and exemplary damages, interest, and costs awarded.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the suit was not time barred as the plaintiffs established disability under the Civil Procedure and Miscellaneous Provisions Act Cap 72 s.5. The plaintiffs had valid interest in the suit land having been allocated it by President Idi Amin Dada in 1971 and having occupied it for over 20 years with government provision of services. The eviction was unlawful, violent, and conducted without proper notice or compensation. The court awarded special damages of UGX 52,658,658,633 (50% discount from the valuation report) and general and exemplary damages of UGX 4 billion for the inhumane treatment, suffering, and arbitrary abuse of rights.

Outcome

Judgment entered in favour of the plaintiffs with declarations, special damages, general and exemplary damages, interest, and costs awarded.

Facts

In 1971, President Idi Amin Dada allocated land at Kichwamba Sub-County, Kasese District to 2500 plaintiffs who had petitioned for resettlement due to overpopulation in southwestern Uganda. The plaintiffs settled on the land, built houses, cultivated crops, reared animals, and received government services including local administration, security, roads, schools, and health services. They paid graduated taxes for over 20 years. In 1990, government forces violently evicted the plaintiffs without proper notice, burning houses and crops, destroying banana and coffee plantations, assaulting residents, and forcibly transporting them to Ibuga refugee camp. Many children died from starvation and disease following the eviction. The defendants claimed the plaintiffs were encroachers on government land who had been lawfully evicted after notice, but produced no evidence of such notice or that the land was required for government purposes.

Issues

  1. Whether the suit is time barred.
  2. Whether the plaintiffs had any valid interest in the suit land at the time of eviction.
  3. Whether the plaintiffs were lawfully evicted from the suit land.
  4. Whether the plaintiffs suffered any damages or losses.
  5. Whether the plaintiffs are entitled to any damages.
  6. What remedies are available to either party?

Orders

  • A declaration that the plaintiffs were wrongfully evicted and were not encroachers on the various lands they were evicted from.
  • An order for the defendants to pay the plaintiffs special damages of Shs 52,658,658,633/= (Fifty Two Billion and six hundred fifty eight million, six hundred fifty eight thousand six hundred thirty three shillings only).
  • An order for the defendants to pay the plaintiffs general, exemplary and punitive damages of Shs 4 billion.
  • An order for the defendants to pay the plaintiffs interest at court rate from the date of judgment till payment in full.
  • Costs of the suit awarded to the plaintiffs.

Rules and key headnotes

Land & Property — Lawful Occupation — Allocation by Head of State — Equitable Interest Acquired
Where land is allocated and persons are settled thereon by the Head of State as fountain of honour, such persons acquire lawful and equitable interest in the land and cannot be treated as mere squatters, notwithstanding the absence of formal title documents.
Administrative Law — Eviction from Land — Requirement of Notice — Compensation for Developments
Persons lawfully occupying land with substantial developments thereon are entitled to adequate notice of eviction and appropriate compensation for their developments before eviction, regardless of whether they hold formal title.
Tort Law — Unlawful Eviction — Violent Eviction by State Agents — Inhumane Treatment
Eviction conducted through violent means by state agents, involving burning of houses and crops, assault and battery of occupants, forced displacement to refugee camps, and denial of opportunity to collect personal property, constitutes unlawful and tortious conduct for which damages are recoverable.
Administrative Law — Limitation — Disability — Inability to Sue Due to Government's Own Actions
Under the Civil Procedure and Miscellaneous Provisions Act Cap 72 s.5, where the inability to institute suit within the prescribed time results from the government's own actions in displacing persons, subjecting them to physical and mental torture, and subsequently promising compensation, the plaintiffs are under disability and may bring action within twelve months of ceasing to be under such disability.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Valuation at Time of Assessment — Land Act Compensation Rates
Valuation of destroyed property for purposes of special damages must be based on prevailing compensation rates at the time of assessment, not historical rates at the time of destruction, in accordance with the Land Act Cap 227 s.59(1)(f) which requires District Land Boards to review compensation rates annually.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Agricultural Products — Allowance for Depreciation and Economic Factors
Where special damages relate to destroyed agricultural products and aged immovable structures, the court may discount the valuation report to account for economic price fluctuations, vulnerability to natural factors, depreciation, and the passage of time.
Human Rights — Exemplary Damages — Arbitrary Abuse of Power — High-Handed State Action
Exemplary and punitive damages are awarded at the court's discretion where citizens' rights are arbitrarily abused and state agents act in a high-handed manner, to atone for inconvenience, pain, suffering, and misery occasioned, and to deter such conduct.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (9)

  • Jovelyn Barugahare v Attorney General (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 28 of 1993)
  • Omito Luka and 5 Others v Attorney General (High Court Civil Suit No. 0073 of 2004)
  • Erukana Kuwe v Isaace Patrick Matovu and Another (High Court Civil Suit No. 177 of 2003)
  • Oketha v Attorney General (High Court Civil Suit No. 0069 of 2004)
  • Kanji Naran Patel versus Noor and Another Essa and Another [1965] 1 E.A 484
  • Mparo Limited v Attorney General (High Court Civil Suit No. 726 of 1992)
  • Dr. James Ssekajugo v Woodstock Enterprises (High Court Civil Suit No. 396 of 1992)
  • Muyingo John Paul v Abbas Rugemwa and 2 Others (High Court Civil Suit No. 229 of 2011)
  • Rookes versus Benard and Others (1964) A.C. 1129

Full judgment

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

Byaruhanga & 2499 Ors Vs Attorney General & Anor (HCT – 01 – CV – CS – 020 OF 2003) [2019] UGHCCD 114 (28 May 2019)
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.