Wakilii

Kalanzi & Another v Lunkuse (Civil Suit 144 of 2019)

High Court · [2025] UGHCFD 12 · 2025 Application Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit concerning caveat lodged against petition for letters of administration and validity of purported will
Decision
Letters of Administration granted jointly to both plaintiffs and defendant. Land to be subdivided with one acre for burial grounds under stewardship of defendant and Moses Kimbowa, and 3.1 acres to be shared equally among children of deceased's only child.

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court Family Division held that a photocopy of a purported will dated 27 May 1977 was not valid where the original was not produced, it was never probated, no attesting witnesses testified, and the will described land using a certificate number the deceased never possessed. The deceased therefore died intestate. The defendant was justified in lodging a caveat as heir of the deceased's only child and custodian of graves on the disputed land. Letters of administration were granted jointly to both plaintiffs and defendant, with the land to be subdivided.

Outcome

Letters of Administration granted jointly to both plaintiffs and defendant. Land to be subdivided with one acre for burial grounds under stewardship of defendant and Moses Kimbowa, and 3.1 acres to be shared equally among children of deceased's only child.

Facts

Simon Kalanzi and Ssebowa Patrick, grandchildren of the late Tebesigwa Petero through his only child Harriet Nakiwala, petitioned for letters of administration to the deceased's estate including land registered as Block 151 Plot 11 at Kito (formerly Volume 966 Folio 19). The defendant Dinah Lunkuse, daughter of Paulo Wamala who was heir to the deceased, lodged a caveat claiming the land was bequeathed to her father under a will dated 27 May 1977 for use as ancestral burial ground for the Ngonge clan. Plaintiffs claimed the deceased left a will bequeathing all property to their mother but it was lost. The defendant produced only a photocopy of the alleged 1977 will, claiming the original was stolen in 2023. The disputed land contains graves of Tebesigwa Petero, his wife, Paulo Wamala, Harriet Nakiwala and three children of Moses Kimbowa who lives on and cultivates the land. Plaintiffs were in possession of the original Certificate of Title described as Volume 966 Folio 19.

Issues

  1. Whether the late Tebesigwa Petero died intestate
  2. Whether the document dated 27 May 1977 is a valid last will and testament of the late Tebesigwa Petero
  3. Whether the short death certificate of Tebesigwa Petero issued on 12 September 2013 is valid
  4. Whether the defendant's caveat against the plaintiffs' petition for letters of administration in respect of the estate of the late Tebesigwa Petero was justified
  5. Whether the defendant has a valid claim to the deceased's land comprised in Block 151 Plot 17 at Kito
  6. What remedies are available to the parties

Orders

  • The document dated 27th May 1977 purported to be the Will of the late Petero Tebesigwa, is not valid. The late Tebesigwa Petero is therefore deemed to have died intestate.
  • The land comprised in Bulemezi Block 151 Plot 11 at Kito, formerly registered as Bulemezi Register Volume 966 Folio 19, forms part of the estate of the late Tebesigwa Petero.
  • The land comprised in Bulemezi Block 151 Plot 11 at Kito is not a burial ground for the Ngonge clan but forms part of the burial ground for the family of the late Tebesigwa Petero.
  • The Plaintiffs and the other children of the late Harriet Nakiwala are the lineal descendants of the deceased, and therefore, the direct beneficiaries of the suitland.
  • Dinah Lunkuse, the Defendant, as the heir of the late Harriet Nakiwala and a caretaker/custodian of the graves on the suitland, has an interest in the suitland.
  • The caveat lodged by the Defendant is hereby vacated.
  • Letters of Administration for the estate of the late Tebesigwa Petero shall be granted to the Plaintiffs and the Defendant, namely SIMON KALANZI, SSEMBOWA PATRICK and DINAH LUNKUSE.
  • Counsel for the Defendant shall hand over the Certificate of Title to the Administrators immediately upon the acquisition of the Letters of Administration.
  • The Administrators of the estate of the late Petero Tebesigwa shall sub-divide the land, and the burial ground shall be allocated one (1) acre of the suit land.
  • All the children of the late Harriet Nakiwala shall have the remaining portion of land (3.1 acres) to be shared equally amongst them.
  • The land designated as burial grounds shall cover the portion where the house and the graves are and shall be under the stewardship of Dinah Lunkuse and Moses Kimbowa, but they are prohibited from selling it.
  • No general damages have been awarded.
  • Each party shall bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Intestacy — Validity of Will — Production of Original Document
A photocopy of a purported will cannot be relied upon as a valid testamentary disposition where the original is not produced, no police report substantiates the claim of theft, the will was never probated, none of the attesting witnesses testified, and the chain of custody is unsatisfactory.
Intestacy — Definition — Death Without Valid Will
An intestate is a person who dies without a valid will, and where no valid testamentary disposition is proved, the deceased is deemed to have died intestate regardless of claims that a will once existed but was lost.
Documentary Evidence — Circumstantial Improbability — Internal Inconsistency
Where a purported will describes land using a certificate of title number which the deceased never possessed, but only held a title under a different description, this circumstance raises serious doubt as to the authenticity of the document and renders it unsafe to rely upon.
Letters of Administration — Caveat — Justification
A defendant is justified in lodging a caveat against a petition for letters of administration where she is the heir of the deceased's only child, her father (who was the customary heir of the deceased) is buried on the disputed land, and she acts as custodian of the graves, even if she is not a lineal descendant of the deceased.
Land Registration — Change of Description — Volume and Folio to Block and Plot
Where land was originally registered under the Volume and Folio system and later transferred to the Block and Plot system of registration, both descriptions refer to one and the same land, and evidence from the Commissioner Land Registration confirming the transition resolves the identity of the disputed property.
Letters of Administration — Joint Administration — Competing Interests
Where both lineal descendants of the deceased and an heir of the deceased's only child have legitimate interests in estate land used as a family burial ground, the court may grant letters of administration jointly to both parties and order subdivision with burial grounds under stewardship of the heir and the remainder distributed to lineal descendants.

Legislation cited (1)

Cases cited (6)

  • Kampala Bottlers Ltd v Damanico (U) Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 22 of 1992)
  • Bakukunda Fausta v Tibamanya Kigambe & Others (Civil Suit No. 13 of 2017)
  • Alice Okecha v Mulumba Mathias Segantebuka (Miscellaneous Application No. 337 of 2023)
  • Hassifa Nassanga v Linda Precious Makula (Miscellaneous Application No. 1382 of 2024)
  • Kibeedi Zaake Wanume v Equity Bank Ltd (Civil Suit No. 35 of 2010)
  • Maruri Venkata Bhaskar Reddy & Others v Bank of India (U) Ltd (Civil Suit No. 804 of 2014)

Full judgment

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

Kalanzi & Another v Lunkuse (Civil Suit 144 of 2019) [2025] UGHCFD 12 (31 March 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.