Wakilii

Kaddu & Another v Mulindwa & 3 Others (Miscellaneous Application 2769 of 2024)

High Court · [2025] UGHCLD 36 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to review and set aside a consent judgment arising from Civil Suit No. 622 of 2019
Decision
Consent judgment set aside; applicants joined to underlying suit for fresh hearing on merits

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that a consent judgment distributing an estate entered into by beneficiaries without letters of administration is illegal, against court policy, and obtained by collusion. Great-grandchildren are lineal descendants entitled to benefit from their great-grandfather's estate where their grandfather and father have not received their shares. The court set aside the consent judgment, ordered substitution of deceased and mentally ill respondents, and directed that the applicants be joined to the underlying suit for determination on merits.

Outcome

Consent judgment set aside; applicants joined to underlying suit for fresh hearing on merits

Facts

The 1st Respondent filed Civil Suit No. 622 of 2019 seeking recovery of 3 acres from land comprised in Busiro Block 485 Plot 5 at Kagga forming part of the estate of the late Zulubaberi Yawebwa. On 22nd April 2024, the respondents executed a consent judgment distributing the estate among themselves and third parties. The applicants are great-grandchildren of Zulubaberi Yawebwa through their late father Ssenyonga Wilberforce Makanga and grandfather Erunasani Makanga. The respondents had previously obtained letters of administration which were decreed fraudulent in Civil Suit No. 192 of 2017 and surrendered for destruction. At the time of the consent judgment, the estate of the late Zulubaberi Yawebwa had no legal representatives duly appointed by court. The respondents signed the consent as beneficiaries and distributed the estate property, including to third parties not party to the suit. The applicants challenged the consent on grounds it was entered collusively, without letters of administration, and without engaging all concerned beneficiaries.

Issues

  1. Whether there is sufficient cause to review and set aside the consent judgment and decree in Civil Suit No. 622 of 2019.

Orders

  • The consent judgment entered in Civil Suit No. 622 of 2019 on 22nd April 2024 is hereby set aside.
  • The 2nd and 4th Respondents shall be substituted with their legal representatives in accordance with the law.
  • The Applicants shall be joined onto Civil Suit No. 622 of 2019 to ably address and/or claim their interest in the estate of the late Zulubaberi Yawebwa if any.
  • Civil Suit No. 622 of 2019 shall be heard and disposed of on its merits.

Rules and key headnotes

Distribution of Estate — Requirement for Letters of Administration
Without a grant of letters of administration, no person has any right whatsoever to sell or otherwise deal with the property of a deceased person.
Lineal Descendants — Definition and Entitlement
A lineal descendant includes a child, grandchild and any person related to the deceased in a direct descending line up to six degrees downwards, entitling great-grandchildren to benefit from their great-grandfather's estate where their grandfather and father have not received their shares.
Consent Judgments — Grounds for Setting Aside
A consent judgment can be set aside if proved to have been obtained by fraud or collusion, or by an agreement contrary to court policy, or if the consent was given without sufficient material facts, or in misapprehension or ignorance of material facts, or for any reason which would enable a court to set aside an agreement.
Intermeddling with Estate — Collusive Distribution Without Administration
Where beneficiaries of an estate under no administration purport to distribute estate property among themselves and to third parties without authority, such a consent judgment is illegal, against court policy, and constitutes intermeddling with the estate which the court cannot enforce.
Collusion — Definition and Effect on Consent Judgment
Collusion connotes an agreement between two or more persons to defraud a person of their rights by the forms of law, or to obtain an object forbidden by law, implying the existence of fraud and employment of fraudulent means for accomplishment of an unlawful purpose, and vitiates a consent judgment.
Capacity to Sue — Standing of Aggrieved Beneficiaries
Any person who considers themselves aggrieved by a consent judgment has capacity to set it aside, including beneficiaries excluded from a distribution of estate property.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (4)

  • Ismail Sunderji Hirani v Noorali Esmail Kassam [1952] EA 131
  • Attorney General & Uganda Land Commission v James Mark Kamoga and Another (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2004)
  • John Kihika & Another v Absolom Tinkamanyire (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 86 of 2014)
  • Makula International Ltd v His Eminence Cardinal Nsubuga & Another [1982] HCB 15

Full judgment

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

Kaddu_&_Another_v_Mulindwa_&_3_Others_(Miscellaneous_Application_2769_of_2024)_[2025]_UGHCLD_36_(24_February_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.