Wakilii

Lamwaka v Laloyo & Anor (CIVIL APPEAL No. 0031 OF 2017)

High Court · [2018] UGHCCD 66 · 2018 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Grade One Magistrate's Court arising from Civil Suit No. 035 of 2009
Decision
Appeal dismissed; judgment of lower court upholding first respondent's ownership affirmed; appellant's claim dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the appeal. The suit against the second respondent was res judicata, having been decided by the LC II Court. The suit against the first respondent was not res judicata on that ground alone, but the appeal failed on the merits. The first respondent paid the purchase price on 28 June 2007, earlier than the appellant's claimed payment on 25 May 2008. The appellant had notice of the first respondent's prior claim when she was struck off as a defendant in related proceedings on 27 November 2008. The appellant was therefore not a bona fide purchaser for value without notice, and her equitable claim could not displace the first respondent's prior equity.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; judgment of lower court upholding first respondent's ownership affirmed; appellant's claim dismissed

Facts

The appellant was an employee of M/s Middle North Cooperative Society Union Limited and occupied a three-roomed boys' quarters as official accommodation from 1991. On 30 June 2007 she received an offer to purchase the property for shs. 1,500,000. She claimed to have paid shs. 1,000,000 on 25 May 2008, with a balance of shs. 500,000 demanded on 6 June 2008. The first respondent deposited shs. 10,000,000 into the Union's bank account on 28 June 2007 for the same property and received a receipt on 23 October 2008. He sued M/s Middle North Cooperative Society Union Limited and the appellant. The appellant was struck off those proceedings on 27 November 2008 on the basis that she had no interest in the land. A consent judgment was entered on 12 December 2008 declaring the first respondent owner. The second respondent purchased two other plots from the Union in December 2008 and June 2009. The appellant filed suit against both respondents on 22 September 2009 claiming ownership and trespass. The Magistrate's Court dismissed her claim, finding it res judicata against the first respondent and that the appellant was not a bona fide purchaser.

Issues

  1. Whether Civil Suit No. 35 of 2009 was res judicata as against the first respondent.
  2. Whether Civil Suit No. 35 of 2009 was res judicata as against the second respondent.
  3. Whether the appellant was a bona fide purchaser for value without notice of the first respondent's prior equitable interest in the property.
  4. Whether the trial magistrate erred in finding that the appellant acted fraudulently to defeat the first respondent's interest.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Res Judicata — Application to Defendant Struck Off Proceedings at Preliminary Stage
A defendant who is struck off proceedings at a preliminary stage on the ground that she has no declared interest in the subject matter, not after consideration of the merits, may subsequently bring a fresh suit on the same facts and issues between the same parties, as such dismissal does not bar a subsequent suit.
Res Judicata — Identity of Subject Matter and Parties
A suit will be barred by res judicata where the subject matter in the subsequent suit is the same as that which was considered in the former suit; the judgment in the former suit was pronounced by a court of competent jurisdiction; the decision was given on the merits of the case; the parties to the earlier suit are the same as in the current suit; and they are litigating under the same title.
Double Sale — Priority of Equitable Interests
In cases of double sale of immovable property, interests in property take priority according to the order in which they are created. Ownership belongs in the following order: (1) the first to register title in good faith; (2) the first possessor in good faith; and (3) the buyer who in good faith presents the oldest title. A prior equitable interest in land can only be defeated by a subsequent bona fide purchaser for value without notice of the prior interest.
Bona Fide Purchaser — Requirement of Good Faith and Absence of Notice
For a second buyer to displace a first buyer in a double sale, the second buyer must show that he or she acted in good faith (in ignorance of the first sale and of the first buyer's rights) from the time of acquisition until title was transferred by registration or delivery of possession, and must show continuing good faith and lack of knowledge of the first sale until his or her contract ripens into full ownership through prior registration.
Notice — Actual and Constructive Notice
A purchaser has actual notice where he or she knows facts and circumstances that would impel a reasonably cautious person to make inquiry, or has knowledge of a defect or lack of title in the vendor. Constructive notice applies when a purchaser knows facts which make it imperative to seek an explanation, because in the absence of an explanation it was obvious that the transaction was probably improper. When a person wilfully abstains from inquiry to avoid notice, such person cannot claim to have acted in good faith.
Locus in Quo — Scope and Limitations
Visiting the locus in quo is for the purpose of enabling the trial court to understand the evidence better and is intended to harness the physical aspects of the evidence in conveying and enhancing the meaning of the oral testimony. It must be limited to an inspection of the specific aspects of the case as canvassed during the oral testimony in court and to testing the evidence on those points only. The practice is to check on the evidence by witnesses, not to fill gaps in their evidence, lest the court run the risk of turning itself a witness in the case.
Irregularity in Admission of Evidence — Effect on Appeal
The improper admission or rejection of evidence is not of itself ground for a new trial or reversal of any decision if it appears that, independently of the evidence objected to and admitted, there was sufficient evidence to justify the decision, or that if the rejected evidence had been received, it ought not to have varied the decision. A court will set aside a judgment for error in admission of evidence only if the error has resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (20)

  • Father Nanensio Begumisa and three Others v Eric Tiberaga (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 17 of 2000)
  • Lovinsa Nankya v. Nsibambi [1980] HCB 81
  • In the Matter of Mwariki Farmers Company Limited v. Companies Act Section 339 and others [2007] 2 EA 185
  • Ganatra v. Ganatra [2007] 1 EA 76
  • Karia and another v. Attorney-General and others [2005] 1 EA 83
  • Isaac Bob Busulwa v. Ibrahim Kakinda [1979] HCB 179
  • Bukondo Yeremiya v E. Rwananenyere [1978] HCB 96
  • Kerchand v. Jan Mohamed (1919 - 21) EACA 64
  • Fernandes v. Noroniha [1969] EA 506
  • De Souza v. Uganda [1967] EA 784
  • Yeseri Waibi v. Edisa Byandala [1982] HCB 28
  • Nsibambi v. Nankya [1980] HCB 81
  • Assets Company v. Mere Roihi [1905] AC 176
  • Macmillan v. Bishopsgate Investment Trust (No. 3) [1995] 1 WLR 978
  • Baden v. Societe Generale pour Favoriser le Developpement du Commerce et de l'Industrie en France SA, [1993] 1 WLR 509
  • The Zamora [1921] AC
  • Royal Brunei Airlines Sdn Bhd v. Tan [1995] 2 AC 378
  • English and Scottish Mercantile Investment Co v. Brunton [1982] 2 QB 700
  • Hagumya Godfrey v. Ntale Deo, CS 298 2004
  • Tarama Ahmed Trama v. Issa Gule, H.C.CS. No.85 2010

Full judgment

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Lamwaka Vs Laloyo & Anor (CIVIL APPEAL No. 0031 OF 2017) [2018] UGHCCD 66 (25 October 2018)
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.