Wakilii

Machame Estates Limited and Others v The Registered Trustees of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha East Africa and Others [2025] UGHCLD 385

High Court · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Interlocutory application to strike out civil suit arising from land dispute
Decision
Application dismissed; main suit to proceed to trial

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court dismissed an application to strike out a civil suit on grounds of illegality and lack of cause of action. The court held that allegations of fraud, forgery, and illegality relating to repossession certificates and land registration are contentious matters requiring strict proof through oral evidence and cross-examination at trial, and cannot be resolved through affidavit evidence in an interlocutory application. The main suit was ordered to proceed to full hearing on its merits.

Outcome

Application dismissed; main suit to proceed to trial

Facts

The 1st Applicant, Machame Estates Limited, is the registered proprietor of land comprised in LRV 838 Folio 18 Plots 83-85 Prince Charles Drive. The 1st Respondent, a trust body, instituted Civil Suit No. 380 of 2018 seeking a declaration that the Applicants are trespassers, a permanent injunction, vacant possession, and damages. The 1st Respondent claimed ownership based on a repossession certificate issued by the Attorney General for land comprised in LRV 250 Folio 12 Plots 55-99 Prince Charles Drive, originally leased in 1949 to Arya Samaj Girls School. The Applicants filed this interlocutory application seeking to strike out the suit, alleging that the repossession certificate was erroneously issued, that the 1st Respondent was not the original registered proprietor, and that there were illegalities including erasures in lease documents. The Applicants contended that the original proprietor was the Registered Trustees of Arya Samaj Girls, not the 1st Respondent, and that there was no legal nexus between the two entities.

Issues

  1. Whether Civil Suit No. 380 of 2018 is improperly before this court.
  2. Whether the Plaint in Civil Suit No. 380 of 2018 is marred with illegality and discloses no reasonable cause of action against the Applicants.
  3. What are the remedies to the parties.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Civil Suit No. 380 of 2018 is not struck out and shall be heard on its merits.
  • Costs of the application awarded to the 1st Respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Interlocutory Applications — Striking Out — Allegations of Fraud and Illegality — Requirement for Oral Evidence
Allegations of fraud, forgery, and illegality are serious and contentious in nature and require strict proof through oral evidence and cross-examination of witnesses at trial. Such allegations cannot be resolved through affidavit evidence in an interlocutory application.
Civil Procedure — Interlocutory Applications — Contentious Matters — Impropriety of Affidavit Evidence
Where a matter is contentious and involves a considerable need to call oral evidence to prove the facts in controversy, the procedure of proceeding by affidavit evidence is improper. Such matters must be determined through a full trial.
Civil Procedure — Striking Out — Complex and Contentious Facts — Determination at Trial
An application to strike out a suit on grounds that raise complex and contentious facts going to the merits of the main suit will be dismissed. Such issues, including the legality of title and corporate status of parties, must be determined on merits after hearing evidence in the main suit.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (4)

  • Kampala Bottlers Ltd v Damanico (U) Ltd (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 22 of 1992)
  • Pulle Kizito Herman Gerald and Another v Nakachwa Hanifa Semanda and Others (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 3794 of 2023)
  • Adam Yacob Muhammed and Another v Madaya Rogers (High Court Miscellaneous Cause No. 14 of 2013)
  • Zalwango Elivason and Another v Dorothy Walusimbi and Another (Originating Summons No. 3 of 2023)

Full judgment

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

Machame Estates Limited and Others v The Registered Trustees of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha East Africa and Others 2025 UGHCLD 385 (17 November 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.