Wakilii

Manake v Nabukwasi (HCT – 04 - CV- CA-0138-2015)

High Court · [2017] UGHCCD 120 · 2017 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Chief Magistrate's Court judgment on defamation claim
Decision
Lower court judgment awarding UGX 4,000,000 general damages and UGX 500,000 punitive damages upheld

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the appeal against a lower court judgment awarding damages for defamation. The court held that the appellant uttered defamatory words about the respondent in the presence of third parties, including statements about the respondent's sexual conduct and anatomy. The words were found to be grossly vulgar, immoral, and capable of lowering the respondent in the estimation of right-thinking members of society. The appellant failed to prove grounds of appeal challenging the trial magistrate's evaluation of evidence.

Outcome

Lower court judgment awarding UGX 4,000,000 general damages and UGX 500,000 punitive damages upheld

Facts

The respondent instituted proceedings in the Chief Magistrate's Court alleging that on 9 January 2008, the appellant uttered defamatory words against her in public. The appellant allegedly stated that the respondent paid men for sex, had a watery sandy vagina, and made other vulgar statements about her sexual conduct. The incident arose from a dispute over allegations that the respondent had assisted the appellant's daughter to procure an abortion. Four prosecution witnesses testified that the appellant uttered the offensive words in the presence of the respondent's husband, father-in-law, brothers, and other members of the public. The defence argued that the respondent had assaulted the appellant and concocted the defamation claim as a cover-up. The trial magistrate found for the respondent and awarded general and punitive damages.

Issues

  1. Whether the learned trial magistrate failed to exhaustively evaluate the evidence
  2. Whether the learned trial magistrate's decision was based on the evidence adduced
  3. Whether the decision was based on misdirections of both law and fact
  4. Whether the words uttered were defamatory
  5. Whether the respondent was defamed
  6. Whether the respondent was entitled to the remedies sought

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Defamation — Elements — Publication to Third Parties
Defamation arises where a person publishes defamatory words by speaking them to or in the presence of a third person, and a statement is defamatory if it is calculated to lower the subject in the estimation of ordinary, just, reasonable persons.
Defamation — Test for Defamatory Meaning — Right-Thinking Members of Society
A statement is defamatory if it tends to lower the plaintiff in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally, or causes the claimant to be shunned or avoided as a result of the statements.
Defamation — Vulgar and Immoral Statements — Sexual Conduct
Words alleging that a person pays men for sex, has physical defects in her anatomy, and does not know how to engage in sexual relations, when uttered in the presence of the person's husband, in-laws, and other members of the public, are grossly vulgar, immoral, and defamatory as they are capable of harming the person's reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society.
Burden of Proof — Defamation — Balance of Probabilities
The evidential burden placed on a plaintiff in a defamation action is to prove on the balance of probabilities that the words were uttered and that they led to the plaintiff being shunned and lowered in esteem.
Appeals — First Appellate Court — Duty to Re-evaluate Evidence
As a first appellate court, the High Court must re-evaluate the evidence, scrutinise it, and make conclusions thereon, keeping in mind the fact that it did not have the opportunity to listen to and observe the witnesses.

Cases cited (4)

  • Chaina Movat and Another v Kyarimpa (Civil Appeal No. 42 of 2008)
  • Sim v Stretch [1936] 2 All ER 1237
  • Youssoupoff v MGM Pictures Ltd (1934) 50 TLR 581
  • Lewis v Daily Telegraph [1964] AC 234

Full judgment

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

Manake v Nabukwasi (HCT – 04 - CV- CA-0138-2015) [2017] UGHCCD 120 (20 June 2017)
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.