Wakilii

Henry Mugenyi t a Kifaru High Court Bailiffs & Auctioneers v Global Forwarders & Clearing Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 0053 of 2007)

Court of Appeal · [2020] UGCA 2185 · 2020 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from a High Court (Commercial Division) decree on a suit for the balance of a decretal amount recovered by a court bailiff
Decision
Appeal dismissed and the High Court decree upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal, exercising its duty as a first appellate court to re-evaluate the evidence, considered whether the trial Judge erred in decreeing Ug. Shs. 2,225,922 to the respondent against a court bailiff who claimed to have paid that sum without any receipt or written acknowledgement. The Court held that the appellant, who bore the burden of proving payment on a balance of probabilities, only established that payment was equally possible as not. The oral evidence of the two lawyers was insufficient to discharge the civil standard, and the alleged payment was an afterthought first raised after the suit was filed. The appeal was dismissed with costs.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed and the High Court decree upheld

Facts

The respondent company instituted a suit against the appellant, a court bailiff who had recovered money from a judgment debtor on the respondent's behalf, claiming Ug. Shs. 18,300,922 as the balance of the decretal amount due. The trial Court decreed Ug. Shs. 2,225,922 to the respondent with interest and 60% of taxed costs. The appellant contended he had paid the disputed sum to the respondent's representative, Mr. Ernest Kamara, in the presence of the respondent's then advocate, Mr. Wycliff Birungi, but no receipt or written acknowledgement existed. The respondent's lawyers gave conflicting oral evidence. The respondent's plaint was filed on 15 April 2002, while the appellant first mentioned the contested payment in an affidavit sworn on 20 September 2002 supporting an application for leave to appear and defend, months after the suit was filed.

Issues

  1. Whether the learned trial Judge erred in law and fact in awarding the respondent Ug. Shs. 2,225,922 against the weight of the evidence.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Decision of the trial Court upheld.
  • Costs of the appeal awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Burden and Standard of Proof — Proof of Payment in Civil Cases
In civil cases the burden of proving a fact lies on the party asserting it, and a party alleging payment must prove on a balance of probabilities that the payment was made; merely showing that payment was equally possible as not made does not discharge that burden.
Evidence — Proof of Payment — Sufficiency of Oral Evidence Absent Receipt
Payment may be proved either by production of a receipt or by other evidence from which payment may be inferred, but uncorroborated oral testimony of interested witnesses, absent any receipt or written acknowledgement, may be insufficient to discharge the civil standard of proof.
Civil Procedure — First Appellate Court — Duty to Re-evaluate Evidence
A first appellate court has a duty to review and reconsider the evidence and materials before the trial court and reach its own conclusions, while bearing in mind that it did not observe the witnesses testify.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (2)

  • Muluuta Joseph v Silvano Katama (Civil Appeal No. 11 of 1999)
  • Kifamunte Henry v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)

Full judgment

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

Henry Mugenyi t a Kifaru High Court Bailiffs & Auctioneers v Global Forwarders & Clearing Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 0053 of 2007) [2020] UGCA 2185 (7 February 2020)
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.