Wakilii

Lakai Uniforms Limited v Ssekatawa V. Mathias and Others (Civil Suit No. 384 of 2022)

High Court · [2025] UGHCLD 81 · 2025 Preliminary Objections Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ruling on preliminary objections raised by defendants at scheduling stage of a civil suit for fraudulent transfer of land
Decision
Preliminary objections dismissed; matter to proceed to full hearing on merits

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court overruled all preliminary objections raised by the defendants. The court held that where fraud is pleaded and the facts concerning when the cause of action accrued are disputed and require evidence, a suit cannot be dismissed as time-barred at the preliminary stage. The court further held that a suit cannot be stayed for non-payment of costs from a previous suit where those costs remain untaxed and unascertained. Finally, the court held that judgment on admission cannot be entered where the alleged admissions are disputed and fraud is pleaded, as the plaintiff has a right to prove fraud through a full trial.

Outcome

Preliminary objections dismissed; matter to proceed to full hearing on merits

Facts

The plaintiff company claimed it obtained a 49-year lease for land at Mbuya in 1981 from the Registered Trustees of the Native Anglican Church of Uganda. The plaintiff alleged that after the death of its managing director in 1988, the 5th defendant (the deceased's wife) assumed management and connived with one Paul Wasswa to fraudulently register him as a tenant in common with equal shares on the suit land in 1990. Paul Wasswa and others then incorporated the 4th defendant company which occupied the land. After Paul Wasswa's death in 2005, the 1st to 3rd defendants obtained letters of administration and registered themselves as tenants in common. The plaintiff alleged it only discovered the fraud in 2019 when a new managing director assumed office and demanded information about the land. The defendants contended that Paul Wasswa was legitimately registered as a tenant in common in 1990 with the knowledge and consent of the plaintiff company, as evidenced by documents signed by the plaintiff's officials.

Issues

  1. Whether a preliminary objection can be raised where the alleged facts on which it is premised are yet to be ascertained and proved?
  2. Whether the plaintiff's suit is barred by limitation?
  3. Whether the plaintiff's suit ought to be stayed pending the payment of costs in HCCS No. 97 of 2021?
  4. Whether the 1st to 3rd defendants are entitled to a judgment on admission?

Orders

  • All preliminary objections raised by the 1st to 4th Defendants are overruled.
  • No order as to costs.
  • The suit shall proceed to hearing on its merits.

Rules and key headnotes

Preliminary Objections — Requirements — Pure Points of Law
A preliminary objection must consist of a pure point of law which has been pleaded or which arises by clear implication out of the pleadings, and which if argued as a preliminary point may dispose of the suit. A preliminary objection cannot be raised if it is premised on disputed facts that are yet to be ascertained by evidence.
Limitation Act — Fraud Exception — When Limitation Period Begins to Run
Where an action is based upon fraud, the limitation period prescribed by the Limitation Act does not begin to run until the plaintiff discovers the fraud. Where fraud is pleaded and the facts concerning when the cause of action accrued are disputed and require evidence to ascertain, a suit cannot be dismissed as time-barred at the preliminary objection stage.
Stay of Proceedings — Payment of Costs from Previous Suit — Taxation Required
A court will not exercise its discretion to stay a subsequent suit pending payment of costs from a previous withdrawn suit where the party seeking the stay has not taken satisfactory steps to have the bill of costs taxed by the taxing officer as required by the Advocates (Remuneration and Taxation of Costs) Regulations, and where the costs claimed remain unascertained.
Judgment on Admission — Requirements — Unequivocal Admission
Judgment on admission is not a matter of right but one of judicial discretion which can only be exercised in plain cases where the admissions of fact are so clear and unequivocal that they amount to an admission of liability. Where the alleged admission is disputed in the pleadings and fraud is pleaded, the plaintiff should not be deprived of the right to have the case tried through a proper trial with discovery and production of oral evidence.

Legislation cited (15)

Cases cited (15)

  • Katakuwange v Ikanza and Another (Civil Appeal No. 75 of 2021)
  • Gunya Company Ltd v Attorney General (HCCS No. 031 of 2011)
  • William v Baleke Musa and Another (HCCS No. 876 of 2020)
  • Yudaya Luta Musoke v Greenland Bank (In Liquidation) (HCCS No. 506 of 2001)
  • Mukisa Biscuits v West End Distributors Ltd [1969] EA 696
  • Nana Korkor Ntim V Stephanie Ansaa Opere SCA. No.14/64/2022
  • Yaya Farajallah v Obur Ronald and 3 Others (CA No. 2018)
  • Sebowa Abudala Seleiman v Nalule Gladys (Administrator of the estate of the late Nalule Christine) (HCTLD Misc. App No. 1402 of 2023)
  • Jeans Humphrey v Tushabe (Civil Suit No. 423 of 2010)
  • Attorney General v Uganda Blanket Manufacturers (SCC Application No. 10 of 1993)
  • Kibalama v Alfasan Belgle [2004] EA 146
  • Attorney General and Another v Joseph Konney and 9 Others (HCMA No. 963 of 2016)
  • John W. Katende and Another v Uganda Communications Commission (HCMA No. 99 of 2022)
  • Future Stars Investment (U) Ltd v Nasur Yusuf (HCCS No. 0012 of 2017)
  • Cassam V Sachania [1982] KLR 191

Full judgment

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

Lakai_Uniforms_Limited_v_Ssekatawa_V._Mathias_and_Others_(Civil_Suit_No._384_of_2022)_[2025]_UGHCLD_81_(30_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.