Wakilii

Grapes Construction Limited v Nakibirango Bernadette and Another [2026] UGHCLD 203

High Court · 2026 Application Stayed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by a non-party for review of a High Court judgment and decree in Civil Suit No. 20 of 2022, for joinder as a defendant and a fresh hearing
Decision
Application stayed pending final determination of Constitutional Petition No. 84 of 2023 and any appeal therefrom

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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.

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

The Court declined to determine an application for review, joinder and a rehearing, holding that the matter concerned the estate of a deceased person recorded in the Buganda Lukiiko Succession Registers and was therefore governed by the recommendations of the Joint Working Committee on Succession Registers and Certificates of Succession. Because those recommendations are under challenge in Constitutional Petition No. 84 of 2023, and the High Court, being subordinate to the Constitutional Court, will be bound by that decision or any appeal to the Supreme Court, determination of the application was stayed until final determination of the petition and any constitutional appeal arising from it.

Outcome

Application stayed pending final determination of Constitutional Petition No. 84 of 2023 and any appeal therefrom

Facts

The applicant, a company that was not a party to Civil Suit No. 20 of 2022, sought review and setting aside of the judgment and decrees of the High Court delivered on 17 May 2024, joinder as a defendant, and a fresh hearing involving all parties. The first respondent, administrator of the estate of the late Lazaro Nsi-egulamirambo who died in 1919, opposed the application. The estate was distributed by the Lukiiko of Buganda, which issued certificates of succession and maintained Succession Registers between 1912 and 1966; after the abolition of the Kingdom in 1966 the registers passed to the Administrator General. In May 2020 a Joint Working Committee on Succession Registers and Certificates of Succession was constituted; its 2023 recommendations were that no certificates of no objection or letters of administration should issue on estates under Succession Registers and that existing grants should not be renewed. Those recommendations are challenged in Constitutional Petition No. 84 of 2023, which remains pending. In a related ruling dated 28 July 2025 in Miscellaneous Application No. 130 of 2025, the Court had stayed all pending matters relating to the same estate.

Issues

  1. Whether the application for review of the judgment and decree in Civil Suit No. 20 of 2022, joinder of the applicant and a fresh hearing should be determined or stayed.
  2. Whether proceedings concerning an estate falling under the Buganda Lukiiko Succession Registers should await the outcome of a pending constitutional petition challenging the recommendations on such estates.

Orders

  • Determination of Miscellaneous Application No. 629 of 2025 is stayed until the final determination of Constitutional Petition No. 84 of 2023 and any constitutional appeal arising therefrom.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Stay of Proceedings — Pending Constitutional Petition Determinative of the Issues
Where the outcome of a pending constitutional petition will have a direct bearing on the determination of a matter before the High Court, the High Court, being subordinate to the Constitutional Court and bound by its decision or any appeal therefrom to the Supreme Court, may stay determination of the matter until the petition and any appeal arising from it are finally determined.
Succession & Estates — Buganda Lukiiko Succession Registers — Estates Affected by Committee Recommendations
Proceedings relating to the estate of a deceased Baganda whose property was distributed by the Lukiiko and recorded in the Succession Registers fall within the category of estates affected by the recommendations of the Joint Working Committee on Succession Registers and Certificates of Succession, and their determination abides the resolution of the constitutional challenge to those recommendations.
Land & Property — Certificates of Succession Issued by the Lukiiko — Effect as Certificates of Title
Certificates of succession issued by the Lukiiko under the Succession Registers operated as certificates of title to the acreage of land indicated therein, and the holders were entitled to transfer their interests to third parties.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Succession Act (as amended)

Cases cited (2)

  • Lufunya Derrick and Another v Attorney General and Others (Constitutional Petition No. 84 of 2023)
  • Miscellaneous Application No. 130 of 2025

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Grapes Construction Limited v Nakibirango Bernadette and Another [2026] UGHCLD 203 (1 June 2026)
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.