Wakilii

Kagoro v Myrtha West (CIVIL SUIT No. 0086 OF 2007)

High Court · [2009] UGHCCD 9 · 2009 Judgment for Plaintiff — Lease Forfeited AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for payment of arrears of ground rent and re-entry onto leased property, proceeding to formal proof after interlocutory judgment granted for failure to file defence
Decision
Lease forfeited for non-payment of rent; lessor entitled to re-enter demised premises; arrears of ground rent awarded to plaintiff with interest and costs

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

Held that the defendant lessee breached the lease covenant by refusing to pay revised ground rent computed from a valuation report prepared by her own nominee valuer. Where rent remains unpaid for more than thirty days, the lessor is entitled under s.103(b) of the Registration of Titles Act to re-enter and forfeit the lease. The court declared re-entry, ordered forfeiture of the 99-year lease, and awarded arrears of UGX 36,234,375 computed at UGX 2,000,000 per annum until 2004, then UGX 5,625,000 per annum from the valuation date to judgment.

Outcome

Lease forfeited for non-payment of rent; lessor entitled to re-enter demised premises; arrears of ground rent awarded to plaintiff with interest and costs

Facts

The plaintiff lessor held freehold title to land from which he leased a 99-year leasehold (commencing 1966) to Harry West, later administered by the defendant. The lease required ground rent revision every 15 years not exceeding one-twentieth of the unimproved land value. In 1996 the parties failed to agree revised rent. In 2000 the lessee deposited UGX 2,000,000 as proposed rent, which the plaintiff accepted for that year only. In 2004 the defendant's lawyers proposed professional valuation to determine unimproved value and nominated a valuer, Mr. Balinda Birungi. The valuer assessed the property at UGX 750,000 per acre. The plaintiff computed revised ground rent at UGX 5,625,000 per annum (one-twentieth of unimproved value). The defendant's lawyers refused this amount, stating it did not make economic sense, and insisted on UGX 2,000,000. The defendant made no further payment despite demands, and attempted to sell her leasehold interest without the plaintiff's consent. The plaintiff brought suit for arrears, re-entry, and forfeiture. The defendant failed to file a defence and interlocutory judgment was entered.

Issues

  1. Whether the Defendant is in breach of the lease agreement.
  2. Whether the Plaintiff can lawfully re-enter the leased property for non-payment of rent.
  3. What other remedies are available.

Orders

  • The Court hereby declares a re-entry onto the suit property by the Plaintiff; thereby forfeiting the lease.
  • The Registrar of Titles is hereby ordered to note the said re-entry and vacate the forfeited leasehold encumbrance from the freehold title.
  • The Defendant shall pay to the Plaintiff the sum of UGX 36,234,375 as arrears of rent outstanding from the forfeited property.
  • The Defendant shall pay costs of this suit.
  • Interests shall accrue on the decretal sum from the date of the suit until payment.

Rules and key headnotes

Landlord and Tenant — Leasehold Covenants — Ground Rent Revision — Binding Effect of Valuation by Mutually Agreed Valuer
Where parties to a lease agree to determine revised ground rent by professional valuation and jointly nominate or accept a valuer, the lessee is bound by that valuer's findings and cannot subsequently refuse payment on grounds of economic inconvenience.
Landlord and Tenant — Forfeiture of Lease — Re-entry for Non-payment of Rent — Registration of Titles Act s.103(b)
Under s.103(b) of the Registration of Titles Act, where rent or any part thereof remains in arrear for thirty days, the lessor may re-enter and take possession of the leased property without the need for formal demand, and the lease is liable to forfeiture.
Landlord and Tenant — Re-entry — Modes of Effecting Re-entry — Physical Re-entry or Legal Action
A lessor entitled to re-enter under the Registration of Titles Act may effect re-entry either by physical occupation of the whole or part of the demised premises or by bringing legal action, including summary suit under O.36 r.2(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules.
Breach of Contract — Lease Covenants — Payment Obligations — Consequences of Continued Breach
Where a lessee covenants to pay rent reserved in a lease and breaches that covenant by non-payment continuing for thirty days, the breach entitles the lessor to terminate the lease and recover arrears of rent outstanding.

Legislation cited (4)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Kagoro Vs Myrtha West (CIVIL SUIT No. 0086 OF 2007) [2009] UGHCCD 9 (5 October 2009)
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.