Wakilii

Latom v Anyang (Civil Appeal 64 of 2022)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 44 · 2025 Appeal Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Chief Magistrate's Court of Pader at Kalongo
Decision
Appeal substantially dismissed; appellant retains possession of 3 gardens (4.5 acres) as conceded by respondent

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that neither the LC2 Parish Court nor the LC3 Sub County Court had jurisdiction to entertain land disputes as courts of first instance under the Local Council Courts Act, and their decisions were nullities ab initio. On the merits, the appellant failed to prove ownership of 30 acres of customary land through contradictory and unreliable evidence regarding acquisition from his father. The respondent's concession that the appellant could retain 3 gardens (approximately 4.5 acres) on which the appellant's parents were buried was accepted. Appeal substantially dismissed with each party to bear own costs.

Outcome

Appeal substantially dismissed; appellant retains possession of 3 gardens (4.5 acres) as conceded by respondent

Facts

The appellant (plaintiff at trial) sued the respondent claiming ownership of 30 acres of customary land at Orunya Village, Ogole Parish, Lapono Sub County, Agago District, alleging his father acquired it from the respondent's father in 1969 and he inherited it in 1979. The respondent (defendant) counterclaimed that his grandfather Ocen Luyongo originally opened the virgin land, his father Okello Sivirino inherited it, and he inherited it upon his father's death in 2008. The respondent averred that the appellant's father was given only 3 gardens (4.5 acres) temporarily in 1983 for settlement but the appellant later claimed the entire 30 acres. Prior to the trial court proceedings, an LC3 Sub County decision in August 2017 found in favour of the appellant against the respondent's son. An LC2 Parish Court decision in March 2021 found in favour of the respondent. The trial magistrate relied solely on the LC2 decision and dismissed the suit. The appellant appealed on five grounds challenging the trial court's evaluation of evidence, reliance on the LC2 decision, conduct of locus in quo, application of limitation law, and failure to find trespass.

Issues

  1. Whether the learned trial magistrate erred in law and fact when he failed to properly evaluate and scrutinize the evidence on record thereby reaching a wrong decision that the suit land belongs to the respondent.
  2. Whether the learned trial magistrate erred in law and fact when he based his decision solely on an illegal, untenable and unclear decision of the LC2 Court and held that the suit land belongs to the respondent.
  3. Whether the learned trial magistrate erred in law and fact by ignoring the appellant's relevant evidence during the locus in quo visit.
  4. Whether the learned trial magistrate erred in law and fact by totally disregarding the law on limitation.
  5. Whether the learned trial magistrate erred in law and fact when he ignored the relevant evidence on trespass and failed to find that the respondent had trespassed on the suit land.

Orders

  • The Appeal substantially fails and is hereby dismissed.
  • The Appellant failed to establish ownership of the suit land.
  • The Appellant failed to establish trespass by the Respondent.
  • The Appellant shall retain possession of the three (3) gardens approximated as 4½ acres as conceded to by the Respondent.
  • The respective parties shall bear their own Costs in this Court and in the Lower (Trial) Court.

Rules and key headnotes

Local Council Courts — Jurisdiction — Courts of First Instance in Land Disputes
Under the Local Council Courts Act (Cap. 18 and formerly the 2006 Act), every suit must be instituted in the first instance in an LC1/Village Council Court with jurisdiction. Neither LC2 Parish Courts nor LC3 Sub County Courts have jurisdiction as courts of first instance in land matters. The provision in the Land (Amendment) Act 2004 purporting to confer first instance jurisdiction on Parish and Ward Executive Committees is inconsistent with the later Local Council Courts Act 2006 and does not prevail. The provision is a dead letter of the law and has not been retained in the revised statutes.
Jurisdiction — Nullity — Purported Exercise of Jurisdiction Not Conferred by Statute
A purported exercise of jurisdiction not conferred on a court by statute is an illegality. Where a Local Council Court purports to adjudicate a land dispute as a court of first instance when it lacks such jurisdiction under the Local Council Courts Act, the decision is a nullity ab initio for want of jurisdiction.
Appellate Jurisdiction — Duty to Resolve All Matters — Judicial Economy
Under Order 43 Rules 20, 26 and 27 of the Civil Procedure Rules, a first appellate court has a duty to resolve all matters having sufficient evidence on record with completeness and finality in the spirit of bringing litigation to a conclusion and in the interests of ensuring judicial economy, and should avoid needlessly ordering a retrial where the record is sufficient for determination.
Customary Land — Burden of Proof — Precision in Establishing Dimensions
The burden of precisely establishing the dimensions and acreage of any land for purposes of litigation, more so in respect of customary land which is often unsurveyed and unregistered, lies on the party intending to establish a claim over the land. Any ambiguity arising including guesswork is resolved in favour of the adverse party by virtue of rendering the claim incompetent. A vigilant litigant must exhaust every measure to clearly define the land subject of their claim or risk the claim failing and being subject of res judicata.
Credibility of Witnesses — Contradictory Testimony — Mode of Acquisition
Where a party's testimony as to how they acquired land is contradictory and vacillating across multiple inconsistent versions, the court is entitled to find the evidence unreliable and to conclude that the contradictions point to deliberate untruthfulness. Such testimony cannot discharge the burden of proof required to establish ownership.

Legislation cited (22)

Cases cited (15)

  • Kifamunte Henry v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)
  • Pandya v R (1957) EA 336
  • Okeno v Republic (1972) EA 32
  • Charles B. Bitwire v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 23 of 1985)
  • Fredrick Zaabwe v Orient Bank Ltd (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 4 of 2016)
  • Father Begumisa Nanensio and 3 Others v Eric Tiberaga (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 17 of 2000)
  • Lovinsa Nankya v Nsibambi [1980] HCB 81
  • Manigaruha Gashumba v Sam Nkundiye (Court of Appeal No. 23 of 2005)
  • Acaa Bilentina v Okello Michael (High Court Civil Appeal No. 53 of 2015)
  • Mutonyi Margret Wakyala and Others v Tito Wakyala and Others (Civil Revision No. 7 of 2011)
  • Ellis R. Kasolo v Security Group (U) Ltd (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 212 of 2020)
  • Peters v Sunday Post Ltd [1958] EA 424
  • Selle and Another v Associated Motor Boat Co. and Others [1968] EA 123
  • King v Thomas [1914] 2 KB 99
  • J.E.M.N. Lutaya v Sterling Civil Engineering Co. Ltd (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 11 of 2002)

Full judgment

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

Latom v Anyang (Civil Appeal 64 of 2022) [2025] UGHC 44 (17 February 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.