Kazinga and Another v Butanwa Farmers Coop Society (CA 17 2010)

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.

Holding

Appeal dismissed. The High Court upheld the Magistrate's finding that the respondent Cooperative Society, as registered proprietor of Block 210 Plot 4 at Lutanwa, was the legal and rightful owner of the suit land. The appellants failed to prove their father was a member of the Society or that they were beneficiaries of any interests in the land. A Certificate of Title under the Registration of Titles Act is conclusive evidence of ownership.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; trial court judgment upholding respondent's title affirmed

Facts

The respondent Cooperative Society was the registered proprietor of land comprised in Block 210 Plot 4 at Lutanwa, Lwebitakuli, Mawogola, Sembabule District. In November 2008, the appellants entered the land, cut trees, and cultivated without the respondent's consent. The respondent sued for trespass in the Magistrates Court at Sembabule. The appellants claimed their late father Zakayo Semuwemba had only donated one plot to the Society and that the remaining land had been given to them and Flavia Kebirungi in 1996, two years before his death in 1998. They further claimed the Society was only registered in 2006, so their father could not have donated land to a non-existent entity in 1978. The trial Magistrate found for the respondent. The appellants appealed to the High Court, arguing the trial Magistrate erred in failing to recognize their father's limited donation and their beneficial interests.

Issues

1. Whether the appellants' father Zakayo Semuwemba only offered one plot to the Cooperative Society and not the entire kibanja.
2. Whether the remaining land had been given to the children and Flavia Kebirungi before Zakayo Semuwemba's death.
3. Whether the appellants proved that Zakayo Semuwemba was a member of the Cooperative Society.
4. Whether there was proof of surrender of the land by Zakayo Semuwemba to the Society.

Orders

• Appeal dismissed with costs.
• Judgment and orders of the trial Magistrate upheld.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (3)

• Constitution of Uganda Article 237
• Registration of Titles Act s.59
• Cooperative Societies Act s.38

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