Wakilii

Dr. Kabiito Richard v Makerere University and Others (Miscellaneous Cause 184 of 2020)

High Court · [2025] UGHCCD 129 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review challenging preliminary investigative letter from university sexual harassment committee
Decision
Application dismissed for lack of amenability to judicial review

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (treatment unverified) Sequitur — Uganda’s citator · Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

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.

No adverse treatment recorded Cited 1 time with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — a deterministic signal, not legal advice.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Held that an application for judicial review challenging a preliminary investigative letter requesting written response to sexual harassment allegations is not amenable to judicial review where no final administrative decision has been made, the applicant has not exhausted internal remedies, and the matter concerns private rights requiring determination of factual guilt rather than review of decision-making process. Application dismissed.

Outcome

Application dismissed for lack of amenability to judicial review

Facts

Dr. Kabiito Richard, a lecturer at Makerere University, was notified by letter dated 5 February 2020 that a sexual harassment complaint had been lodged against him by a female undergraduate student. The letter requested a written response within seven days as part of preliminary investigations by the Vice Chancellor's Ad Hoc Committee. Dr. Kabiito filed this judicial review application seeking declarations that the investigative process violated his constitutional rights to fair hearing, that the university's sexual harassment policy was ultra vires, and seeking orders of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, and damages. The university deposed that the investigation was in preliminary stages and had not progressed to a hearing or decision due to COVID-19 lockdown and the filing of these proceedings. No final administrative decision had been rendered and internal appeal mechanisms remained available.

Issues

  1. Whether the application is amenable to judicial review

Orders

  • Application dismissed with costs to the respondents

Rules and key headnotes

Judicial Review — Amenability — Exhaustion of Remedies — Requirement to Exhaust Internal Remedies Before Seeking Judicial Review
An applicant seeking judicial review must exhaust existing remedies available within the public body before applying to court, as required by Rule 7A of the Judicature (Judicial Review) (Amendment) Rules 2019.
Judicial Review — Amenability — Premature Applications — No Final Administrative Decision
Judicial review is not available to challenge preliminary investigative steps where no final administrative decision has been made and the decision-making process has not been completed.
Judicial Review — Scope — Private Rights Distinguished from Public Law Remedies
Judicial review is concerned with the legality of the decision-making process, not with the merits of the decision or the determination of private rights such as factual guilt or innocence.
Administrative Law — Fair Hearing — Right to Fair Hearing Not Infringed Where Process Not Commenced or Concluded
An applicant cannot claim infringement of the right to a fair hearing where the administrative process complained of has neither commenced nor concluded and no adverse decision has been rendered.

Legislation cited (7)

Cases cited (4)

  • Byaruhanga John Patrick v Commissioner for Land Registration (Miscellaneous Cause No. 235 of 2024)
  • Chief Constable of North Wales Police v Heavens [1982] 3 All ER 108
  • Uganda Association of Consulting Engineers Limited v The Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda and 2 Others (Miscellaneous Cause No. 182 of 2024)
  • Bwengye v Electoral Commission (Miscellaneous Cause No. 352 of 2021)

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.

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Dr. Kabiito Richard v Makerere University and Others (Miscellaneous Cause 184 of 2020) [2025] UGHCCD 129 (18 August 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.