Kisembo & 4 Others v The Board of Governors Rwenzori Saad Islamic Institute & Another (Miscellaneous Application 12 of 2021)
Observed later treatment
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Holding
The court held that objector proceedings under Order 22 Rule 55(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules are not the appropriate procedure to challenge execution of orders for vacant possession, as such orders do not constitute attachment of property. Attachment presupposes enforcement of a debt or costs, not determination of ownership. The court further held that execution seeking vacant possession was premature and misconceived where it preceded the ordered cancellation and re-registration of title, and where it sought detention of persons who were neither parties to the original suit nor judgment debtors. The intended execution was quashed.
Outcome
Intended execution quashed. 1st Respondent directed to implement consequential orders in proper sequence: first cancel existing title, then register as lawful owner, then take vacant possession.
Facts
The Board of Governors Rwenzori Saad Islamic Institute obtained consequential orders in 2016 requiring cancellation of a certificate of title held by Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, fresh registration in its own name, and vacant possession of Plot 26 Block 26 Bukonjo Kasese. In 2021, the Board served a Notice to Show Cause seeking execution by way of vacant possession and detention of five individuals who claimed to be members of the Board. The individuals filed objector proceedings claiming the execution was wrongly engineered by an impostor and that they had not been parties to the original suit. As of June 2021, the certificate of title remained registered in the name of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council despite the 2016 court orders.
Issues
- Whether objector proceedings under Order 22 Rule 55(1) are the correct procedure to challenge execution of court orders for vacant possession of land.
- Whether execution of vacant possession and detention orders is premature before implementation of prior orders for cancellation and re-registration of title.
- Whether detention of non-judgment debtors is lawful under the Civil Procedure Act.
Orders
- Application fails on the basis that the intended execution is not an attachment of property within the meaning of Order 22 Rule 55(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules.
- The intended execution of Consequential Orders arising from HCT-01-CV-LD-MA-0003-2016 to wit vacant possession and detention of the applicants is hereby quashed.
- The 1st Respondent should proceed to implement the Consequential Orders starting with cancellation of the Certificate of Title in the names of the 2nd Respondent and thereafter registration of the 1st Respondent as lawful owner.
- Only after being registered as lawful owner may the 1st Respondent proceed to take vacant possession of the suit land and enforce rights against trespassers.
- The Applicants and 1st Respondent shall bear their own costs with regard to the intended execution.
- The Applicants shall meet the costs of the 2nd Respondent in relation to the objector proceedings.
Rules and key headnotes
Legislation cited (7)
Cases cited (2)
- Makula International v His Eminence Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga (Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1981)
- Mandavia v Rattan Singh [1968] EA 146
Cases citing this judgment (1)
How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.
Full judgment
The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.