Wakilii

Ignatius William Kajubi & Anor v. Canan Wanyama (Civil Appeal No. 26 of 2002)

High Court · [2010] UGHC 2 · 2010 Appeal Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from judgment of Chief Magistrate dismissing suit for eviction and breach of contract
Decision
Sub-lease terminated; respondent given option to enter new lease agreement within 6 months; respondent ordered to pay damages and costs.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the respondent was in breach of the covenant to pay rent both before and after the lessor's death; that members of the deceased's family could collect rent before letters of administration in the ordinary course of business without becoming executors of their own wrong; that the appellants were entitled to re-entry for non-payment of rent; that no binding agreement to sell existed due to mistake as to price; that the respondent was not entitled to relief against forfeiture having failed to apply timeously and not having tendered full arrears. Appeal allowed, sub-lease terminated, and parties directed to negotiate a new lease agreement under the Registration of Titles Act.

Outcome

Sub-lease terminated; respondent given option to enter new lease agreement within 6 months; respondent ordered to pay damages and costs.

Facts

The appellants were administrators of the estate of David Kagolo Kajubi, who died in 1991. The deceased had entered an unwritten sub-lease agreement with the respondent in the 1960s for Plots 75-77 at Kauga, Mukono. A 1975 written agreement defrayed shs 11,206 (premium for an aborted separate transaction) towards rent for August 1974 to August 1984, after which rent at shs 100 per month was to resume. After the deceased's death, the respondent did not pay rent. The appellants obtained letters of administration in 1996. They sued for eviction and damages. Negotiations to sell the appellants' interest in the property for shs 4 million failed when the respondent offered only shs 3 million after paying shs 2.2 million. The trial magistrate dismissed the suit, finding no breach. The appellants appealed.

Issues

  1. Whether the respondent was in breach of the covenant to pay rent.
  2. Whether the appellants were entitled to re-entry upon breach of the covenant to pay rent.
  3. Whether there were valid grounds for the respondent's non-payment of rent.
  4. Whether there was a valid legal agreement for the appellants to sell their interest in the suit property to the respondent.
  5. Whether the respondent would be entitled to relief against forfeiture.
  6. Whether the trial magistrate properly disposed of the respondent's counterclaim.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed.
  • Judgment and orders of the trial magistrate reversed.
  • The sub-lease between the appellants and the respondent over land comprised in Kyaggwe Block 539 Mailo Register Volume 316, known as Plots 75-77 Kauga, Mukono stands terminated.
  • The respondent shall pay the appellants shs 1,500,000 being general damages for breach of contract.
  • The respondent shall be given the first option to enter into a new lease agreement with the appellants with respect to Plot 75-77 at Kauga under the Registration of Titles Act within a period of 6 months of the date of this order; this shall be done after valuation of the suit land, excluding the value of the respondent's developments thereon.
  • The respondent shall pay the appellants' costs for this appeal and the costs in the court below.

Rules and key headnotes

Succession — Letters of Administration — Collection of Rent Before Grant
Members of a deceased's family may collect rent from the deceased's properties before obtaining letters of administration if they do so in the ordinary course of the deceased's business and comply with Succession Act s.268. Such collection does not make them executors of their own wrong provided they act to preserve the estate or deal with the deceased's goods in the ordinary course of his business.
Succession — Letters of Administration — Effect and Relation Back
Letters of administration relate back to the time of death of the deceased, entitling the administrator to all rights belonging to the intestate as effectually as if the administration had been granted at the moment after death (Succession Act s.192). Some actions of the administrator before the grant are therefore valid and lawful.
Succession — Administrator Pendente Lite — Scope of Application
Succession Act s.218 provides for the appointment of an administrator pendente lite only where the grant of letters of administration or probate has been delayed because of litigation touching the validity of a will or the grant itself. It does not apply where delay is due to other reasons. A debtor of the estate has no standing to apply for such a grant.
Landlord and Tenant — Covenant to Pay Rent — Obligation Without Demand
By virtue of Registration of Titles Act s.102 and s.103, rent reserved under a lease must be paid at the times mentioned in the lease, and where rent is in arrear for 30 days, the lessor may re-enter without any legal or formal demand for payment. It is the lessee's obligation to pay rent whether formally demanded or not, and to seek out the appropriate person to pay following the lessor's death.
Landlord and Tenant — Forfeiture — Service of Writ
Where a landlord brings an action for possession containing an unequivocal demand for possession, the mere service of the writ or plaint operates to determine the lease. The landlord need not physically re-enter the premises to effect forfeiture.
Landlord and Tenant — Relief Against Forfeiture — Requirements
A tenant seeking relief against forfeiture for non-payment of rent must tender payment of all rent due plus costs and expenses incurred by the landlord, and must apply for relief within the landlord's action or within six months of judgment. A purported deposit of rent that does not comply with the Civil Procedure Rules and is not properly evidenced does not constitute a valid tender entitling the tenant to relief.
Contract Formation — Consensus ad Idem — Mistake as to Price
Where parties purport to enter into an agreement to sell property but one party's agent agrees to a price without full authority and the principal subsequently refuses that price, there is no consensus ad idem and no binding contract. The agreement is vitiated by mistake and there can be no breach.

Legislation cited (21)

Cases cited (10)

  • Pandya v R [1957] EA 336
  • Father Narsension Begumisa & Others v Eric Tibekinga (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 17 of 2002)
  • Francis Butagira v Deborah Namukasa (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 6 of 1989)
  • In the Matter of C G Kiwanuka & Another [1973] HCB 167
  • Haji Musa Magala v Martin Andowa [1971] HCB 144
  • Matiya Kagiri v Bugerere Dairy Farm Ltd [1976] HCB 142
  • Elliot v Boynton [1924] Ch 236
  • Gill v Lewis (1956) 1 All ER 844
  • Kiska Ltd v De Angelis [1967] EA 6
  • Allen Nassanga v M Nanyonga [1977] HCB 352

Full judgment

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

Ignatius William Kajubi & Anor Vs. Canan Wanyama (Civil Appeal No. 26 of 2002) [2010] UGHC 2 (20 January 2010)
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.