Wakilii

Kulusum v Bukenya & 3 Others (Miscellaneous Application 220 of 2022)

High Court · [2023] UGHC 359 · 2023 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to reject plaint on grounds of limitation, lack of cause of action, and frivolity arising from civil suit for land recovery
Decision
Main suit rejected as statute barred; application allowed

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.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Held that a suit to recover land brought more than 27 years after the alleged dispossession in 1994-1995 was statute barred under section 5 of the Limitation Act Cap 80, which bars actions to recover land after twelve years from the date of dispossession. The plaint was rejected under Order 7 rule 11(d) of the Civil Procedure Rules as it disclosed on its face that the claim was barred by law.

Outcome

Main suit rejected as statute barred; application allowed

Facts

The Respondents/Plaintiffs sued the Applicant/Defendant claiming land comprised in Buddu FRV 67 Folio 21 measuring 257 acres, alleging it belonged to the estate of their late father Sabiti Lubega. The Respondents claimed the Applicant was not entitled to hold the land and sought cancellation of her registration. The Applicant denied the claims, produced a Ugandan passport proving citizenship, and asserted she and her late husband had occupied the land uninterrupted for 27 years. The Respondents pleaded in paragraph 5(g) of their plaint that between 1994 and 1995, the Applicant's husband forcefully evicted them from the suit land. The Applicant brought a miscellaneous application to reject the plaint on grounds including limitation.

Issues

  1. Whether Civil Suit No. 100 of 2022 disclosed a cause of action against the Applicant.
  2. Whether Civil Suit No. 100 of 2022 was time barred under the Limitation Act.
  3. Whether Civil Suit No. 100 of 2022 was frivolous or vexatious.

Orders

  • HCCS No. 100 of 2022 is hereby rejected with costs to the Applicant/Defendant.
  • The Application is allowed with costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Land & Property — Limitation — Recovery of Land — Twelve-Year Bar
Under section 5 of the Limitation Act Cap 80, no action shall be brought by any person to recover land after the expiration of twelve years from the date on which the right of action accrued.
Land & Property — Limitation — Accrual of Right of Action — Date of Dispossession
The right of action to recover land accrues on the date of dispossession, as provided by section 6 of the Limitation Act Cap 80.
Civil Procedure — Rejection of Plaint — Plaint Disclosing Limitation Bar
A plaint will be rejected under Order 7 rule 11(d) of the Civil Procedure Rules where it appears on its face that the suit is barred by law, including where the pleadings disclose that the claim is statute barred under the Limitation Act.
Land & Property — Adverse Possession — 27 Years' Uninterrupted Possession
Where a party has enjoyed uninterrupted possession of land for over 27 years and the dispossessed party admits in their pleadings they were evicted in 1994-1995, a subsequent action to recover the land brought in 2022 is statute barred.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (2)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Kulusum v Bukenya & 3 Others (Miscellaneous Application 220 of 2022) [2023] UGHC 359 (18 April 2023)
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.