Ddamurila & Ors v Nassuna (Civil Suit No. 321 of 2004)

Observed later treatment

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

The High Court held that land transferred to Asuman Numba Ddamulira in 1967 by way of gift and registered in his name formed part of his estate, not the estate of the donor Ali Nsimbe Kikuuno who died in 1966. The original defendants fraudulently obtained a special certificate of title by misrepresenting that the duplicate certificate had been lost and that the land formed part of Ali Nsimbe's estate when it did not. Court ordered rectification of the register to reflect the plaintiffs as rightful proprietors and awarded general damages.

Outcome

Plaintiffs declared rightful proprietors of the suit land; register to be rectified; defendants' fraudulent special certificate of title cancelled

Facts

The plaintiffs, as administrators of the estate of Asuman Numba Ddamulira, sued for recovery of land comprised in Kibuga Block 18 Plot 234. They claimed that Ali Nsimbe Kikuuno had gifted the land to their father in 1966, who was then registered as proprietor in 1967. After their father's death, the plaintiffs became administrators of his estate but discovered that the original defendants, as administrators of Ali Nsimbe's estate, had been registered as proprietors using a special certificate of title. The defendants argued that the 1967 registration of the plaintiffs' father was fraudulent and that the land formed part of Ali Nsimbe's estate. They had obtained letters of administration to Ali Nsimbe's estate after successfully revoking an earlier grant to the plaintiffs' father. They applied for and obtained a special certificate of title in 2002, claiming the duplicate certificate was lost.

Issues

1. Whether the suit land formed part of the estate of Ali Nsimbe Kikuuno or the late Asuman Numba Ddamulira.
2. Whether the 1st and 2nd Defendant (original Defendants) got registered as proprietors of the suit land by fraud.
3. What remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

• The registration of the original Defendants as proprietors of the suit land was unlawful and fraudulent.
• The Certificate of Title be rectified by cancelling the Special Certificate of Title issued to the original Defendants, and the Plaintiffs be registered as Administrators of the Estate of Asuman Numba Ddamulira, as the lawful and rightful proprietors.
• The 3rd Defendant, the Commissioner of Land Registration, cancels the entry of the Defendants from the Register, and enters/registers thereon the Plaintiffs as Administrators to the Estate of the Late Asuman Numba Ddamulira.
• Cancellation of the Special Certificate of title held by the Defendants and entry on the Duplicate Certificate of title for suit land held by the Plaintiffs as Administrators thereof.
• The Plaintiffs are awarded general damages of UGX 30 million.
• The Plaintiffs are awarded costs of this suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (6)

• Registration of Titles Act s.70
• Registration of Titles Act s.178
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 8 r.2
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 8 r.7
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 8 r.8
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 9 r.8

Cases cited (10)

• Des Raj Sharma v Reginam (1953) 20 EACA 310
• Amer v Republic (1972) EA 324
• Okwonga Anthony v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 20 of 2000)
• Kampala Bottlers Ltd v Damanico (U) Ltd (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 22 of 1992)
• Wainiha Saw Milling Co Ltd v Waione Timber Co Ltd [1926] AC 101
• John Katarikawe v Katwiremu and Another [1977] HCB 153
• David Sejjaka v Rebecca Musoke (Civil Appeal No. 12 of 1985)
• James Fredrick Nsubuga v Attorney General (High Court Civil Suit No. 13 of 1993)
• Charles Acire v Myaana Engola (High Court Civil Suit No. 143 of 1993)
• Kibimba Rice Ltd v Umar Salim (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 17 of 1992)

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

• Majumba v Mugisa (HCT-01-LD-CA-0037-2024)

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