Wakilii

Mawadri Ramadhan Drami and Others v Adjumani District Local Government (Miscellaneous Application 28 of 2026)

High Court · [2026] UGHC 368 · 2026 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for temporary injunction arising from judicial review proceedings challenging recruitment process
Decision
Application dismissed; interim injunction lifted; recruitment process and interviews to proceed immediately

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for temporary injunction to restrain recruitment process dismissed. Court held that the 4th Applicant lacked locus standi as a concerned citizen without demonstrating which constitutional rights were violated. Applicants failed to establish a prima facie case, as the respondent's recruitment process followed proper public service procedures including obtaining waivers from the Ministry of Public Service. The court found no irreparable injury would result, as damages could adequately compensate any loss. Balance of convenience favored allowing the recruitment to proceed in the public interest rather than halting it for the benefit of a few individuals.

Outcome

Application dismissed; interim injunction lifted; recruitment process and interviews to proceed immediately

Facts

The applicants challenged the Adjumani District Service Commission's recruitment process through judicial review proceedings. They alleged that three key positions (District Commercial Officer, Senior Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, and Principal Finance Officer) approved by the Ministry of Public Service were not advertised, and that job qualifications were altered to favor certain acting officers. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd applicants were employees of the respondent district, while the 4th applicant claimed to be a concerned citizen. An interim injunction was granted on 13th March 2026 halting recruitment interviews scheduled for 16th March 2026. The respondent explained that it had obtained waivers from the Ministry of Public Service to regularize acting officers' positions, and that job qualifications followed the 2011 and 2017 manuals as directed by the Permanent Secretary in February 2025, not the 2024 manual the applicants relied upon. The 1st applicant had been shortlisted for the position of District Community Development Officer.

Issues

  1. Whether there are sufficient grounds to grant the application for temporary injunction.
  2. Whether the 4th Applicant has locus standi to bring the application.
  3. Whether the Applicants introduced inadmissible evidence from the bar in their written submissions.
  4. Whether the Applicants suppressed material facts.
  5. Whether the Applicants have shown a prima facie case with a likelihood of success.
  6. Whether the Applicants will suffer irreparable injury which would not adequately be compensated by an award of damages.
  7. Whether the balance of convenience favors granting the temporary injunction.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Interim orders issued on 1st March 2026 lifted.
  • Recruitment process to proceed with immediate effect.
  • Interviews scheduled for 16th March 2026 to resume immediately.
  • Costs to follow the main cause.

Rules and key headnotes

Locus Standi — Public Interest Litigation — Constitutional Rights
A person asserting standing as a concerned citizen in public interest litigation under Article 50(2) of the Constitution must elaborate in precise and concise terms which rights under Chapter Four of the Constitution were violated and how, and must establish the relation to the public interest. It is not enough to merely assert the existence of a right without facts bearing out its existence and breach.
Evidence — Submissions — Inadmissible Evidence from the Bar
Submissions are not an avenue for giving or adducing evidence. Whatever a party wishes to be relied on by the court must be clearly stated in their pleadings. Factual assertions in written submissions that are not supported by affidavit evidence constitute inadmissible evidence from the bar and cannot be relied upon by the court.
Temporary Injunctions — Prima Facie Case — Public Service Recruitment
In an application to restrain a public recruitment process, an applicant must establish that they hold or are affected by the positions complained of. In the absence of evidence showing the applicants' positions held with the respondent, they cannot claim that the recruitment process will affect them in any way, and thus fail to establish a prima facie case.
Temporary Injunctions — Irreparable Injury — Public Projects
Where a government body would be in a financial position to pay damages if the applicants are found to have been genuinely affected, the loss that applicants may suffer if a temporary injunction is not granted is not irreparable. Courts cannot grant an injunction that will have the effect of suspending the operation of legislation or the functions of a public body.
Judicial Review — Balance of Convenience — Public Interest
Courts should be slow to grant injunctions against government projects intended for the public interest at large, as opposed to private proprietary interests or the interests of a few individuals. Between conflicting interests, the interest of the public at large must prevail over the interest of a few individuals. Where a recruitment process is intended to increase critically low staffing levels affecting public services, the balance of convenience favors allowing the process to continue.

Legislation cited (6)

Cases cited (10)

  • E.L.T Kiyimba Kaggwa v Haji Abdu Nasser Katende [1985] HCB 43
  • American Cyanamid Co v Ethicon [1975] ALL ER 504
  • Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Ltd v West End Distributors Ltd (1969) E.A. 697
  • Pastor Martin Sempa v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Application No. 71 of 2002)
  • Namukasa Rose v Namayanja Margaret & 4 Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 890 of 2024)
  • Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Henry Tumukunde v Attorney General & Grace Akullo (Miscellaneous Application No. 489 of 2020)
  • ACP Bakaleke Siraj v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Application No. 551 of 2018)
  • Alcohol Association of Uganda and 39 Others v Attorney General and URA (Miscellaneous Application No. 744 of 2019)
  • Ddamulira Ronald and Others v Logic Real Estates Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 20 of 2023)
  • Uganda National Bureau of Standards v Ran Publishers Limited & Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 635 of 2019)

Full judgment

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

Mawadri Ramadhan Drami and Others v Adjumani District Local Government (Miscellaneous Application 28 of 2026) [2026] UGHC 368 (17 April 2026)
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.