Wakilii

Mrs. Christine Anywar & Rose Alilo v Mr. Christopher Alioma, Mr. Leni Gilbert Boniface, Andama Martin & The Red Pepper Publications Ltd (Civil Suit 27(2)

High Court · [2023] UGHC 343 Suit Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for libel and defamation dismissed for non-appearance
Decision
Suit dismissed for non-appearance

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

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 High Court dismissed the suit for libel and defamation under Order 9 Rule 17 of the Civil Procedure Rules for non-appearance of both plaintiffs and defendants despite effective substituted service by affixing the hearing notice to the court notice board. Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.

Outcome

Suit dismissed for non-appearance

Facts

The plaintiffs filed a suit for libel and defamation on 2 July 2015. The defendants filed their written statements of defence in July and August 2015. The matter was referred to mediation on 23 May 2019 but no mediation report was filed. The last proceedings were held on 18 March 2020, after which the matter was adjourned to 6 July 2020 for hearing. No further proceedings occurred until 16 October 2023 when the matter was scheduled for hearing. On 26 September 2023, the court ordered substituted service by affixing the hearing notice to the High Court Gulu notice board. On the hearing date, neither the parties nor their counsel appeared despite effective substituted service confirmed by affidavit.

Issues

  1. Whether service by substituted service was effective.
  2. Whether the suit should be dismissed for non-appearance of both parties.

Orders

  • Civil Suit No. 27/2015 is hereby dismissed under Order 9 Rule 17 of the Civil Procedure Rules, SI 71-1 for non-appearance of the Parties.
  • Each Party shall bear its own costs.

Legislation cited (3)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Mrs. Christine Anywar & Rose Alilo v Mr. Christopher Alioma, Mr. Leni Gilbert Boniface, Andama Martin & The Red Pepper Publications Ltd (Civil Suit 27(2)
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.