Wakilii

Henry Lwetabe and Others v Attorney General and Others (Miscellaneous Application 839 of 2023)

High Court · [2025] UGHCCD 200 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for certificate of order against Government arising from consolidated civil suits for terminal benefits
Decision
Certificate of order against Government granted for payment of terminal benefits

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 High Court granted the application for a certificate of order against Government based on a clear admission by the Attorney General that the Government owed the applicants UGX 649,988,694 in terminal benefits. The court rejected an additional claim for damages and interest raised only in written submissions, applying the principle that a party cannot be granted relief not claimed in pleadings and on which no evidence was adduced.

Outcome

Certificate of order against Government granted for payment of terminal benefits

Facts

The applicants were former employees of Uganda Electricity Board (UEB), Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL), and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (UEDCL). Following earlier consolidated civil suits, the parties entered a consent judgment for payment of terminal benefits. The Auditor General computed the terminal benefits at UGX 649,988,694. The applicants sought a certificate of order against Government under Section 19 of the Government Proceedings Act. The Attorney General, through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, filed an affidavit admitting Government's liability for the computed amount and stating that Government would budget for payment. In their written submissions, the applicants raised an additional claim for damages and interest not included in their notice of motion.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicants are entitled to a certificate of order against the Government for payment of terminal benefits.

Orders

  • The 1st respondent (Attorney General) shall pay UGX 649,988,694 to the applicants, being terminal benefits in respect of their service to the UEB (In Liquidation), UETCL and UEDCL.
  • Each party shall bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Judgment on Admission — Requirements for Entry of Judgment
Before entering judgment on admission, the court must be satisfied that the admission by a party is clear, plain, obvious and unambiguous, leaving no room for doubt. If a case involves complicated questions, the court should decline to exercise its discretion to enter judgment on admission.
Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Relief Not Claimed in Pleadings
A party cannot be granted relief which it has not claimed in its pleadings and where no evidence has been adduced by the parties on the relief. A claim raised for the first time in written submissions, without being pleaded and without opportunity for the other party to respond, will be rejected.
Administrative Law — Government Proceedings — Certificate of Order Against Government
Under Section 19 of the Government Proceedings Act, where an order for payment is made against the Government, the proper officer of the court shall issue a certificate in the prescribed form containing particulars of the order. The certificate mechanism is the exclusive procedure for enforcing payment by Government; no execution or attachment process may be issued.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (2)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Henry Lwetabe and Others v Attorney General and Others (Miscellaneous Application 839 of 2023) [2025] UGHCCD 200 (6 November 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.