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Kyambogo University v Nambirige and 53 Others (Labour Dispute Miscellaneous Application 33 of 2019)

Industrial Court · [2019] UGIC 228 · 2019 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for review of garnishee order absolute arising from labour dispute execution proceedings
Decision
Application for review of garnishee order absolute dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Industrial Court dismissed the application for review of a garnishee order absolute. The court held that the applicant had been given sufficient opportunity in prior proceedings to prove payment of the contested sum but failed to produce adequate evidence. The matter was res judicata, having been substantially in issue in several previous applications between the same parties. The application was a veiled appeal and the evidence adduced as new evidence was insufficient proof of payment. Litigation must come to an end at some point.

Outcome

Application for review of garnishee order absolute dismissed

Facts

Respondents obtained judgment against Kyambogo University for UGX 1,492,560,798 in 2009, later recomputed to UGX 1,246,362,933 in respect of 54 former employees. The university paid UGX 450,000,000 but failed to pay the balance. Respondents filed garnishee proceedings via Miscellaneous Application 186/2018. A garnishee order nisi was issued for UGX 796,362,933 on 16 November 2018. Notice was served on the applicant and its bankers but neither appeared at the hearing. The order was made absolute on 26 November 2018 and the money paid to respondents' lawyers. The university then applied for review, claiming it had earlier paid UGX 205,468,789 to respondents' accounts via Stanbic Bank's Business Online payment platform, but only discovered confirmatory evidence from recipient banks after the garnishee order. The university had raised this payment claim in multiple prior applications but never produced sufficient evidence when given opportunities by the court.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant is an aggrieved person entitled to seek review under Section 82 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 46 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
  2. Whether the applicant discovered new and important evidence which after the exercise of due diligence was not within its knowledge at the time the garnishee order absolute was made.
  3. Whether the application for review is barred by res judicata having been substantially in issue in former applications between the same parties.
  4. Whether the garnishee order absolute for UGX 796,362,933 should be reviewed to account for alleged prior payment of UGX 205,468,789.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Review of Judgment — Locus Standi — Aggrieved Person
To have locus standi to bring an application for review under Section 82 of the Civil Procedure Act, a person must be one considering himself aggrieved, meaning a person who has suffered a legal grievance. A party who fails to produce evidence of payment when given sufficient opportunity by the court and subsequently suffers execution of the full decretal amount is not an aggrieved person entitled to review.
Civil Procedure — Review of Judgment — New Evidence — Due Diligence
Order 46 Rule 1(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules permits review on discovery of new and important evidence which after the exercise of due diligence was not within the applicant's knowledge or could not be produced when the decree was passed. Where a party had sufficient time and opportunity to produce evidence in prior proceedings but failed to do so, and the bankers served with hearing notice failed to appear or apply for extension of time, the party cannot later claim the evidence is newly discovered.
Civil Procedure — Res Judicata — Review Applications — Same Subject Matter
Where the subject matter of a review application has been substantially in issue in several previous applications between the same parties in the same court, and the court has heard and decided the matter, the subsequent review application is barred by res judicata under Section 7 of the Civil Procedure Act. Litigation must come to an end at some point.
Civil Procedure — Garnishee Proceedings — Review — Veiled Appeal
An application for review of a garnishee order absolute which does not identify any mistake or error apparent on the face of the record, but merely seeks to re-argue matters already determined, constitutes a veiled appeal and is not acceptable. The restrictive nature of the law on garnishee proceedings does not support such applications where no bank disputed the amount due and the judgment debtor failed to appear at the garnishee hearing.
Civil Procedure — Evidence — Proof of Payment — Bank Statements
A Business Online payment system report showing money delivered for processing, without corresponding bank statements of recipients showing successful crediting of accounts and without a list of accounts considered non-operational, is insufficient proof of payment. The court has power to order production of bank statements to ascertain crediting of accounts, but such application must be made by the party seeking to prove payment.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (3)

  • Ladak Muhammed Hussein v Griffiths Insingoma Kakiiza & Others (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 8 of 1995)
  • In Re Nakivubo Chemists(U) Ltd (1971) HCB 12
  • Mboizi v Dauli & 4 Others (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 0080 of 2014)

Full judgment

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

Kyambogo_University_v_Nambirige_and_53_Others_(Labour_Dispute_Miscellaneous_Application_33_of_2019)_[2019]_UGIC_228_(6_November_2019)
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.