Wakilii

Charles Sabiiti & Ors v Teddy Seezi Cheeye (Civil Suit No. 516 of 1997)

High Court · [2001] UGHC 5 · 2001 Judgment for Plaintiffs AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for defamation arising from published article
Decision
Judgment for plaintiffs with 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 defendants failed to prove the truth of the article alleging financial impropriety by the plaintiffs, failed to establish the defence of fair comment on a matter of public interest, and that the article was defamatory as it lowered the plaintiffs' reputation among right-thinking persons. General damages of UGX 6,000,000 and exemplary damages of UGX 3,000,000 awarded to each plaintiff with interest at 20% per annum from judgment.

Outcome

Judgment for plaintiffs with damages, interest, and costs awarded

Facts

Three senior officials of New Vision Printing and Publishing Corporation (Chief Accountant, Deputy Chief Accountant, and Chief Internal Auditor) sued the Editor-in-chief and Publisher of Uganda Confidential over an article published on November 8-15, 1996, titled 'Eating scandal triggers off crisis in New Vision'. The article alleged financial impropriety and misappropriation of funds by the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs denied receiving any money as alleged. The Managing Director of New Vision testified the corporation's accounts were in good order and no impropriety existed. The defendants filed a written statement of defence claiming truth, fair comment, and lack of malice, but called no witnesses at trial and filed no written submissions despite agreeing to do so.

Issues

  1. Whether the article complained of was true.
  2. Whether the article was a fair comment on a matter of public interest.
  3. Whether the article was defamatory of the plaintiffs.
  4. What remedies are available to the plaintiffs.

Orders

  • Judgment entered for the plaintiffs.
  • General damages of UGX 6,000,000 awarded to each plaintiff.
  • Exemplary/punitive damages of UGX 3,000,000 awarded to each plaintiff.
  • Interest at 20% per annum on general damages and exemplary/punitive damages from date of judgment until realisation in full.
  • Costs of the suit awarded to the plaintiffs.

Rules and key headnotes

Defamation — Burden of Proof — Truth Defence
Where a defendant pleads truth as a defence to defamation but calls no evidence to prove the truth of the allegations, the defence of truth fails and the court will find the statements were not proven true.
Defamation — Fair Comment Defence — Requirements
To succeed in a defence of fair comment, a defendant must prove that each and every statement of fact in the words complained of is true and that the comment on the facts so proved was bona fide fair comment on a matter of public interest. If the defendant fails to prove the truth of any statement of fact, the defence of fair comment fails.
Defamation — Test for Defamatory Statement
The test of what is defamatory is whether the words complained of would tend to lower the reputation of the plaintiff in the opinion of right-thinking persons. The court should look at the general impression the words are likely to create in the minds of reasonable persons rather than analysing the words too closely.
Defamation — Malice — Inference from Absence of Explanation
Where defamatory statements are published and the defendant offers no explanation or evidence in defence, the court may find the publication was malicious.
Exemplary and Punitive Damages — Purpose and Assessment
Exemplary or punitive damages are damages by way of punishment or deterrent given entirely without reference to any proved actual loss suffered by the plaintiff. Such damages should be assessed to punish wrongful conduct while encouraging defendants to reform their practices.
Right of Parties to be Present — Multiple Plaintiffs in Defamation Action
Plaintiffs are parties to a suit and have a right to be present throughout the course of the suit in court. To exclude plaintiffs from the hearing of their case cannot be done, even where there are multiple plaintiffs who may later testify.

Cases cited (9)

  • Figuerado v Editor, Sunday Nation & Others [1968] EA 501
  • East African Standard v Gitau [1970] EA 678
  • Hough v London Express Newspapers Ltd [1940] 2 K.B. 507
  • Lewis v Daily Telegraph [1963] 2 All ER 151
  • W.S.O. Davies v Mohanlal Karamshi Shah [1957] CA 352
  • Kaijuka v Cheeye (HCCS 688 of 1991)
  • Rhoda Kalema v William Pike (HCCS 611 of 1993)
  • Gordon Wavamuno (without more particulars)
  • Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile & 2 Others v Teddy Ssezi Cheeye (HCCS 341 of 1992)

Full judgment

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

Charles Sabiiti & Ors v Teddy Seezi Cheeye (Civil Suit No. 516 of 1997) [2001] UGHC 5 (15 November 2001)
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.