Wakilii

Kyaziike Margret and Another v Isaka Zimbe (deceased) represented by Henry Kaaya and Others (Civil Suit 75 of 2023)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 302 · 2025 Judgment for Defendant AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for declaration that defendants were fraudulently registered on certificate of title
Decision
Suit dismissed; permanent injunction issued restraining plaintiffs from making further claims to the suit land

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claim that defendants were fraudulently registered on land comprising East Buganda Block 123 Plot 18. The court held that the plaintiffs' father, Bulasio Salabwa Kisambu, was registered on the land in his capacity as cultural leader (Kisambu) and held it in trust for the Nkima sub-clan, not as personal property. The defendants were lawfully registered as tenants in common holding the land in trust for the clan. The plaintiffs failed to prove fraud on the higher standard required for such allegations.

Outcome

Suit dismissed; permanent injunction issued restraining plaintiffs from making further claims to the suit land

Facts

The plaintiffs, daughters of the late Bulasio Salabwa Kisambu who died in 1982, sued claiming that defendants were fraudulently registered on East Buganda Block 123 Plot 18 land at Busambu measuring 289 acres. The plaintiffs alleged that their father was the registered proprietor until 1983 when Henry Walter Sebadawo fraudulently transferred the land to himself and subsequently to the defendants as beneficiaries in 1991. The defendants contended that the land was given to the Nkima clan, that Bulasio changed the title to his name to mortgage it for a coffee business loan, and that when he died without paying the loan, the clan resolved to rescue it. Sebadawo paid off the debt and registered the land, then transferred it to the defendants as trustees for the clan. Evidence showed that the land was recognized by His Majesty's Government in the 1900s as belonging to the Kisambu Omulangira of Busambu, a cultural title for the head of a sub-clan of the Nkima clan. Survey reports revealed 68 families living on the land with bibanja holdings, cultural sites including graves of previous Kisambus, and that neither plaintiff had any foothold on the land. The Buganda Kingdom's Minister of Culture confirmed that Kisambu is a cultural title and Busambu is a culturally recognized site for descendants of Kisambu.

Issues

  1. Whether Henry Walter Sebadawo was illegally and fraudulently registered on the suit land.
  2. Whether Isaka Zimbe, Isreal Kasato, Joseph S. Mpaka, Henry Sebadawo, Yusuf Kaddu and Mathias Mawanda were illegally and fraudulently registered on the suit land.
  3. Whether the suit land was personal property of the late Bulasio Salabwa Kisambu or held in trust for the Nkima sub-clan.

Orders

  • East Buganda Bulemezi Block 123 Plot 18 land at Busambu has never been the personal property of late Bulasio Salabwa Kisambu.
  • The registered proprietors Isaka Zimbe, Isreal Kasato, Joseph F. Mpaka, Henry Sebadawo, Yusuf Kaddu, and Mathias Muwanga were lawfully registered as tenants in common and hold the land in trust for the Nkima sub-clan.
  • A permanent injunction shall issue restraining the plaintiffs or their agents and successors in title from making any further claims to the suit land.
  • The plaintiffs shall severally and jointly pay the defendants costs of this suit.
  • Suit dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Customary Land Tenure — Cultural Title — Land Held in Trust for Clan
Where land is registered in the name of a person holding a cultural title recognized by government as head of a clan or sub-clan, and evidence establishes that the cultural institution existed before registration and continues after the registered proprietor's death, the registered proprietor holds the land in trust for the clan and not as personal property.
Documentary Evidence — Public Documents — Admissibility of Historical Records
Under sections 64(1)(d) and 73(1)(a) of the Evidence Act, secondary evidence of acts or records of acts of sovereign authority, including historical recognition of customary land rights by colonial government, is admissible as evidence of public documents.
Fraud — Standard of Proof — Allegations of Fraudulent Registration
In civil cases involving allegations of fraud in land registration, the plaintiff must prove the fraud on a standard higher than the ordinary balance of probabilities, requiring a degree of probability commensurate with the seriousness of the allegation.
Express Trusts — Creation by Clan Resolution — Registration of Trustees
Where a clan passes a resolution appointing named individuals as trustees to hold land for the benefit of the clan, and those individuals are subsequently registered as tenants in common, an equitable trust is created and the registered proprietors hold the land in trust for the clan.
Mailo Land — Busulu — Proof of Landlord-Tenant Relationship
Where a plaintiff claims that registered land was the personal property of their predecessor as mailo landlord, evidence of payment of busulu by bibanja holders is necessary to establish the landlord-tenant relationship and distinguish personal ownership from land held in a representative or trust capacity.

Legislation cited (5)

  • Evidence Act Cap.8 s.64(1)(d)
  • Evidence Act Cap.8 s.73(1)(a)
  • Evidence Act Cap.8 s.101
  • Evidence Act Cap.8 s.103
  • Limitation Act Cap.290

Cases cited (1)

  • Bater v Bater [1951] 35

Full judgment

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Kyaziike Margret and Another v Isaka Zimbe (deceased) represented by Henry Kaaya and Others (Civil Suit 75 of 2023) [2025] UGHC 302 (7 May 2025)
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.