Wakilii

Moses Kamya v Ibrahim Mpungu (civil suit No. 279 of 2011)

High Court · [2012] UGHC 417 · 2012 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for reinstatement of a previously dismissed application arising from Civil Suit No. 11/2003
Decision
Application for reinstatement refused

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for reinstatement dismissed. The court held that the applicant failed to establish sufficient cause for non-appearance on 29 June 2011, and that the supporting affidavit contained contradictions and falsehoods rendering it unreliable. An application supported by a false affidavit cannot succeed as the applicant does not come to court with clean hands.

Outcome

Application for reinstatement refused

Facts

The applicant sought reinstatement of an application dismissed on 29 June 2011, claiming he was prevented from attending court for reasons beyond his control. The application was brought under section 98 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 9 rule 23 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The applicant's affidavit stated that the Registrar endorsed the documents on 28 June 2011 and there was no way he could have known the hearing date. However, the same affidavit also stated that his counsel attempted to attend court on that date but was not robed, and that his lawyer saw the application causelisted while attending another matter before the Registrar. A letter from the applicant's counsel dated 14 November 2011 indicated awareness that the application was fixed for 11 November 2011, contradicting claims of non-service.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant had sufficient cause for non-appearance warranting reinstatement of the dismissed application.
  2. Whether the applicant came to court with clean hands given the alleged contradictions and falsehoods in the supporting affidavit.

Orders

  • Application dismissed with costs.
  • Right of appeal explained.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Reinstatement of Dismissed Applications — False Affidavits
An application supported by an affidavit containing apparent falsehoods and contradictions is bound to fail because the applicant does not come to court with clean hands, and a sworn affidavit containing obvious falsehoods becomes suspect and cannot be treated lightly.
Civil Procedure — Reinstatement — Sufficient Cause for Non-Appearance
Where an applicant seeks a hearing date and it is granted, the fact of not receiving court process served on him does not constitute sufficient cause for non-appearance, particularly where evidence shows the applicant was aware of the hearing date.

Legislation cited (3)

Cases cited (1)

  • Sirasi Bitaitana v Kananura [1977] HCB 34

Full judgment

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

Moses Kamya v Ibrahim Mpungu (civil suit No. 279 of 2011) [2012] UGHC 417 (24 May 2012)
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.