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Melidah Namutebi & Anor v Gaaga Entreprises Limited (Civil Suit 364 of 2012)

High Court · [2023] UGHCCD 380 · 2023 Judgment for Defendant AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for damages arising from alleged negligence causing death
Decision
Suit dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The plaintiff failed to prove that the defendant's bus driver was negligent in causing the fatal road traffic accident. The plaintiff bore the burden of proving breach of duty of care but adduced no eyewitness or documentary evidence to establish negligence. The defendant's eyewitness testified that the collision was caused by the other vehicle swerving into the defendant's lane. The court found no breach of duty by the defendant and dismissed the suit with costs.

Outcome

Suit dismissed

Facts

On 22 January 2011, Godfrey Mutumba was a passenger in a Fuso lorry travelling from Kampala towards Gulu. The lorry collided with a Scania bus owned by the defendant and travelling in the opposite direction from Arua to Kampala. Mutumba died instantly. The plaintiffs, his mother and widow, sued the defendant under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act for damages arising from alleged negligence of the defendant's driver. The widow died during proceedings and the suit continued with the mother alone. The defendant denied negligence and contended the accident was caused solely by the driver of the Fuso lorry. The defendant's turnman, an eyewitness, testified that the Fuso lorry abruptly swerved from its lane into the bus's lane causing the collision. The plaintiff adduced no eyewitness or documentary evidence to contradict this account.

Issues

  1. Whether the accident was caused by the negligence of the Defendant's bus driver.
  2. What remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

  • Suit dismissed with costs to the Defendant.

Rules and key headnotes

Negligence — Duty of Care — Road Users
A driver of a motor vehicle owes a duty of care to all road users, including passengers in other vehicles using the same road, not to do any act or fail to do any act that the driver could reasonably foresee would cause them injury or death.
Negligence — Breach of Duty — Standard of Proof
To establish breach of duty of care in negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's actions fell below the standard of care likely to be taken by a reasonable person having regard to all the circumstances of the case.
Burden of Proof — Civil Matters — Particulars of Negligence
Where a plaintiff pleads particulars of negligence but adduces no eyewitness or documentary evidence to prove those particulars, and the defendant adduces credible eyewitness evidence contradicting the allegations, the plaintiff fails to discharge the burden of proof on the balance of probabilities.
Death of Party — Continuation of Suit
Where one of multiple plaintiffs dies during proceedings and counsel elects not to substitute that plaintiff, the suit may proceed at the instance of the surviving plaintiff in accordance with Order 24 rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (3)

  • Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562
  • Sebuliba v Co-operative Bank (1982) HCB 129
  • Miller v Minister of Pensions [1947] 2 All ER 372

Full judgment

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

Melidah Namutebi & Anor v Gaaga Entreprises Limited (Civil Suit 364 of 2012) [2023] UGHCCD 380 (6 September 2023)
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.