Wakilii

Katwesige v Ramayub (Divorce Cause 112 of 2018)

High Court · [2022] UGHCFD 21 · 2022 Petition Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Divorce petition filed by wife seeking dissolution of marriage on grounds of adultery and cruelty, heard ex parte after respondent failed to respond despite service
Decision
Marriage dissolved by decree nisi; joint custody of minor children granted; matrimonial property divided between parties and children

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court granted a decree nisi dissolving the marriage on grounds of cruelty and adultery. The court found that the respondent's conduct, including failure to maintain the family, repeated quarrels, abuses, and commission of adultery, amounted to cruelty causing danger to the petitioner's mental health. The court awarded joint custody of the three minor children, declined to grant sole custody or alimony, and ordered that certain matrimonial properties be registered in the children's names while others be retained by the respondent.

Outcome

Marriage dissolved by decree nisi; joint custody of minor children granted; matrimonial property divided between parties and children

Facts

The petitioner and respondent married on 23 August 2006 at the Registry of Marriages in Kampala. They resided in the United Kingdom during the marriage and had four children. During cohabitation, the respondent allegedly became cruel by failing to maintain the petitioner and children, engaging in repeated quarrels and abuses when confronted about adultery, refusing to pay school fees, making verbal threats to the petitioner's mother-in-law, causing injury to relatives, and failing to be involved in the children's welfare. The respondent allegedly committed adultery with various women and fathered a child outside wedlock aged 4 to 6 years. The respondent moved back to Uganda in 2020 and stopped involvement in family affairs. The petition was filed on 5 November 2018. The respondent did not respond despite service and the matter proceeded ex parte after substituted service via newspaper.

Issues

  1. Whether there exist grounds for divorce.
  2. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • Decree Nisi dissolving the civil marriage between Lillian Katwesige and Ramayub K. Sentam contracted on 23rd August 2006 at the Registry of Marriages in Kampala is hereby entered.
  • Joint custody of the children Rashma Ayub Sentamu Kisambira, Asiah Nakaima Kisambira and Riaz Haroon Kisambira granted to both parties until they attain majority age.
  • Both parties shall maintain the children: petitioner to provide general welfare including clothing and necessaries; respondent to pay for education and medication; whichever party has custody shall provide shelter and food.
  • No alimony awarded to the petitioner.
  • Properties comprised in Kyadondo Block 232 Plot 1983 and Plot 1000 at Kireka Banda, Ssabaddu to be used by petitioner and children for residential purposes and registered in the names of the children.
  • Properties comprised in Kyadondo Block 232 Plot 1486 at Kireka Banda, Ssabaddu, Leasehold Register Volume 477 Folio 25, together with the whole sanitary lane Plot No. 3 & 5, Block D, Bulopa and Motor Vehicle Toyota Corona Reg. No. UAH 384J to be retained by the respondent.
  • No costs awarded to either party.

Rules and key headnotes

Divorce — Grounds for Divorce — Equality of Grounds Between Spouses
Following the Constitutional Court decision in Uganda Association of Women Lawyers v Attorney General, all grounds of divorce mentioned in Section 4(1) and (2) of the Divorce Act are available to both parties to the marriage, as requiring women to prove more grounds than men constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of the equality provisions under the 1995 Constitution.
Divorce — Cruelty — Definition and Standard of Proof
Cruelty as a ground for divorce requires conduct that has the effect of producing actual or apprehended injury to the petitioner's physical or mental health, with danger to life, limb or health, bodily or mental, or reasonable apprehension of it. Conduct amounting to emotional or psychological torture that would cause danger to the petitioner's mental health constitutes cruelty.
Divorce — Adultery — Proof by Direct or Circumstantial Evidence
Adultery can be proved by the petitioner adducing direct or circumstantial evidence. Photographic evidence of the respondent with another woman and a child, coupled with testimony that the respondent committed adultery and fathered the child, constitutes sufficient proof in the absence of rebuttal.
Child Custody — Welfare Principle and Joint Custody
The welfare principle of the children is paramount in custody determinations. Where none of the parents is likely to cause harm to the children, joint custody is favoured over sole custody as children need both parents in their lives, particularly at crucial stages of development.
Matrimonial Property — Division Based on Contribution
Matrimonial property to which each spouse is entitled is that property which the parties choose to call home and to which they jointly contribute. Contribution may be direct and monetary or indirect and non-monetary, including domestic services. It is immaterial that one spouse was not as financially endowed as the other, as indirect contribution is no less important than financial contribution.
Alimony — Conditions for Award and Gender Equality Considerations
Alimony under Section 24(1) of the Divorce Act may only be ordered after a decree absolute declaring the marriage dissolved has been entered. Where the petitioner is gainfully employed and can ably take care of herself, and no evidence has been adduced regarding the respondent's ability to pay, alimony will not be granted. The provision requiring only husbands to pay alimony to wives is discriminatory and justice should be accorded to all persons equally.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (9)

  • Uganda Association of Women Lawyers and Others v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 2 of 2003)
  • Namukasa Joweria v Kakondere Living (Divorce Cause No. 30 of 2010)
  • Habyarimana v Habyarimana [1980] HCB 139
  • Kazibwe v Kazibwe (Divorce Cause No. 3 of 2003)
  • Re M (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 22 of 1994)
  • Otto Methodius Pacific v Edyline Sabrina Pacific (Civil Appeal No. 88 of 2013)
  • Rwabinumi v Bahimbisomwe (Civil Appeal No. 10 of 2009)
  • Kagga v Kagga (Divorce Cause No. 11 of 2005)
  • Muwanga v Kintu (High Court Divorce Appeal No. 135 of 1997)

Full judgment

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

Katwesige v Ramayub (Divorce Cause 112 of 2018) [2022] UGHCFD 21 (8 September 2022)
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.