Wakilii

Kampala International University Limited v Housing Finance Company Limited (Civil Application 153 of 2025)

Court of Appeal · [2025] UGCA 119 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by notice of motion for stay of execution pending appeal to the Court of Appeal, heard by a single Justice, following refusal of a similar application by the High Court
Decision
Application granted; execution of the High Court's recognition and enforcement orders stayed pending determination of the appeal

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Sitting as a single Justice, the Court granted a stay of execution pending appeal. It held the application was competent under Rules 2(2), 6(2)(b) and 42 and could be heard by a single Justice under section 12 of the Judicature Act. A single Justice has no jurisdiction to decide whether a right of appeal exists — that is the preserve of the full bench under Rule 82 — so a notice of appeal duly filed under Rule 76 sufficed. The appeal raised novel, arguable questions on recognition and enforcement of a New York Convention award allegedly set aside at the seat. Given simultaneous recovery in Kenya and Uganda and the risk of crippling a university, the balance of convenience favoured the applicant.

Outcome

Application granted; execution of the High Court's recognition and enforcement orders stayed pending determination of the appeal

Facts

The applicant, a private university, borrowed about USD 11.3 million from Housing Finance Company Kenya Limited to finance a campus in Kajiado, Kenya, secured on that land. A dispute went to arbitration in Nairobi, where the arbitrator in 2019 ordered the applicant to pay the respondent USD 12,767,508.33 with interest. The High Court of Kenya partly set aside that award, holding repayment was governed by the facility letters and securities, with disputes reserved to the Kenyan High Court; appeals to the Kenyan Court of Appeal and Supreme Court failed. The respondent advertised the Kenyan property for sale and also filed Arbitration Cause No. 38 of 2024 in Uganda for recognition and enforcement; the applicant objected via Cause No. 46. In March 2025 the Ugandan High Court recognised and enforced the award as its own decree. The applicant filed a notice of appeal and, after the High Court refused a stay, brought this application.

Issues

  1. Whether the application for stay of execution was competently before the Court of Appeal and could be heard by a single Justice.
  2. Whether, in the face of an objection that the applicant had no right of appeal, a single Justice could refuse a stay for want of a valid notice of appeal.
  3. Whether the applicant satisfied the conditions precedent for the grant of an order of stay of execution pending appeal.

Orders

  • The enforcement or execution of the orders of the High Court in consolidated Arbitration Causes No. 38 of 2024 and 46 of 2024, including enforcement and execution in Uganda of the Final Arbitral Award of 19 September 2019 as a judgment, order and decree of the High Court of Uganda and recovery of the decretal sums and costs, is stayed pending determination of the applicant's appeal in Civil Appeal No. 167 of 2025.
  • Costs of this application shall abide by the outcome of the appeal.

Rules and key headnotes

Stay of Execution — Competence of Notice of Appeal — Jurisdiction of a Single Justice to Determine the Right of Appeal
A court presided over by a single Justice has no jurisdiction to make a definitive determination of whether a right of appeal exists; that question is the preserve of the full bench in appropriate proceedings to strike out a notice of appeal under Rule 82, so where a notice of appeal has been duly filed under Rule 76 it suffices to found an application for stay of execution notwithstanding a challenge to the right of appeal.
Stay of Execution — Likelihood of Success — Arguable Appeal
At the stay-of-execution stage the court does not prejudge the appeal or delve into its merits; it suffices that the applicant demonstrates an arguable appeal which ought to be argued fully before the court and is not frivolous or a sham.
Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign / New York Convention Awards — Award Set Aside at the Seat
Whether a foreign or New York Convention arbitral award that has been set aside or varied by a competent court at the seat of arbitration is capable of being recognised and enforced in Uganda is an unsettled and arguable question; sections 9, 31, 34 and 38 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act concern domestic awards and the jurisdiction to review, set aside or suspend such an award is the preserve of a competent court at the seat under Article V(1)(e) of the New York Convention.
Stay of Execution — Irreparable Loss / Nugatory Appeal — Money Decrees and Simultaneous Cross-Border Execution
A stay of execution may be granted even in respect of a money decree; the matter is one of discretion guided by the peculiar facts, and where simultaneous execution is being pursued against the same sums in more than one State — a power to be exercised restrictively and only in exceptional cases — and execution would risk crippling the operations of the judgment debtor, the appeal may be rendered nugatory and a stay is warranted.
Stay of Execution — Security for Due Performance of the Decree
The deposit of security for due performance of the decree is not a mandatory requirement for the grant of a stay of execution under Rules 2(2) and 6(2)(b) of the Court of Appeal Rules; it is merely a rule of practice and a matter for the court's discretion.
Stay of Execution — Imminent Threat of Execution
A pending application for execution is not a precondition to a stay; it suffices that steps towards execution have been initiated, such as a formal demand to satisfy the decree coupled with a threat of garnishee proceedings which may issue ex parte.

Legislation cited (24)

  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.2(1)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.2(2)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.6(2)(b)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.41(1)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.42(1)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.42(2)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.43(1)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.76
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI 13-10 r.82
  • Judicature Act s.10
  • Judicature Act s.12
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.9
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.31
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.34
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.35
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.38
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.42
  • Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap.5 s.43
  • Civil Procedure Act s.66
  • Civil Procedure Rules Order 43 r.4
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 131(2)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 134(2)
  • New York Convention (Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards) Article 5(1)(e)
  • Arbitration Act of Kenya Cap.19

Cases cited (35)

  • Hon. Theodore Ssekikubo & Others v Attorney General & Anor (Constitutional Application No. 6 of 2013)
  • Haruna Sentongo v I & M Bank Ltd (Civil Application No. 113 of 2023)
  • Haruna Sentongo v I & M Bank Ltd (Civil Application No. 1069 of 2023)
  • Gasasira Augustine v Bataringaya David (Civil Application No. 68 of 2025)
  • China Henan International Cooperation Group Co. Ltd v Justus Kyabahwa (Civil Application No. 100 of 2021)
  • Gashumba Muniraguha v Sam Nkudiye (Civil Application No. 24 of 2015)
  • Lukwago Elias v Attorney General & KCCA (Civil Application No. 6 of 2014)
  • Uganda National Examinations Board v Mparo General Contractors (Civil Application No. 19 of 2004)
  • Mukaayo William v Ssekamwa Sonde (Civil Application No. 1139 of 2023)
  • Babcon Uganda Limited v Mbale Resort Hotel Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2016)
  • Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd v Aya Investments (U) Limited (Civil Application No. 1104 of 2023)
  • Lakeside Dairy Limited v Midland Emporium Limited & 3 Others (Civil Application No. 858 of 2022)
  • Aya Investment (U) Limited v Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd (Civil Application No. 410 of 2023)
  • Uganda Revenue Authority v East Africa Property Holdings Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 144 of 2014)
  • Kituuma-Magala & Co Advocates v J.W. Inter Service Limited & Anor (Civil Application No. 14 of 2024)
  • Lawrence Musiitwa Kyazze v Eunice Busingye (Civil Application No. 18 of 1990)
  • Yokwamu Kasinde & Anor v Kihonde Samuel & Anor (Civil Application No. 259 of 2018)
  • Makula International Ltd v Cardinal Nsubuga [1982] HCB 11
  • Kiiza Sanyu v Emojong John (Civil Application No. 130 of 2021)
  • Kyambogo University v Prof. Isaiah Omolo Ndiege (Civil Application No. 341 of 2013)
  • Patrick Kaumba Willshire v Ismail Dabule (Civil Application No. 1 of 2019)
  • Joel Kato v Nulu Nalwoga (Civil Miscellaneous Application No. 11 of 2011)
  • National Housing and Construction Corporation v Kampala District Land Board & Anor (Civil Application No. 6 of 2002)
  • Jomayi Property Consultants Ltd v Maviiri (Civil Reference No. 171 of 2015)
  • Akankwasa Damian v Uganda (Constitutional Application Nos. 7 and 9 of 2011)
  • Editor in Chief, Red Pepper Publications Ltd v Rtd. Chief Justice Samuel Wako Wambuzi (Civil Application No. 47 of 2020)
  • Registered Trustees of the Hindu Union v Kagoro Epimac & Ors (Civil Application No. 304 of 2017)
  • Falcon Estates Limited v Bismillah Trading Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 104 of 2015)
  • Kafu Sugar Limited & Another v Kiryandongo Sugar Limited & Another (Civil Application No. 607 of 2024)
  • DFCU Bank Limited v Crane Management Services Limited (HCMA No. 236 of 2025)
  • M/s Semuyabo, Iga & Co. Advocates & Anor v Attorney General of the Republic of South Sudan & 2 Ors (HCMA No. 4 of 2022)
  • Kananura Andrew Kansiime v Richard Henry Kaijuka (Civil Reference No. 15 of 2016)
  • Great Lakes Energy Company NV v MSS XSABO Power Ltd & Others (Arbitration Causes Nos. 2 and 5 of 2023)
  • Stanley Kang'ethe Kinjanjui V Kette & Ors [2013] e KLR
  • Kisembo Emmanuel & Ors V Tibendeza Moses (supra)

Full judgment

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Kampala International University Limited v Housing Finance Company Limited (Civil Application 153 of 2025) [2025] UGCA 119 (5 May 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.