Wakilii

Mukasa v Nabukenya (Civil Appeal No. 35 of 2007)

High Court · [2012] UGHC 302 · 2012 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Chief Magistrate's Court Mengo judgment in defamation suit
Decision
Appeal dismissed; lower court judgment and award of damages upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that a deficiency in decree dating is a mere technicality that cannot bar an appeal since an appeal is against the judgment, not the decree. A written statement calling another person an irresponsible rumormonger and handing them to God for punishment is defamatory as it reflects negatively on character and morality. Publication to even a small number of persons satisfies the publication requirement for defamation. The appellant's denial of radio broadcast statements was rejected where multiple witnesses identified his voice and confirmed the defamatory content.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; lower court judgment and award of damages upheld

Facts

The respondent sued the appellant for defamation in the Chief Magistrate's Court Mengo, claiming he wrote a defamatory letter calling her irresponsible and a rumormonger, circulated it to third parties including her employees, and broadcast defamatory statements on Radio Simba alleging she planned to poison him and stole electricity. The Magistrate's Court found for the respondent and awarded UGX 1,500,000 in general damages and a permanent injunction. The appellant appealed. The respondent raised a preliminary objection that the appeal was incompetent because the extracted decree bore a different date (10 October 2007) from the judgment date (13 September 2007). Three witnesses testified they heard the appellant's defamatory broadcast on Radio Simba and identified his voice.

Issues

  1. Whether the appeal was competent given that the decree bore a different date from the judgment
  2. Whether the appellant's letter to the respondent was defamatory
  3. Whether the appellant uttered defamatory statements on Radio Simba
  4. Whether the awarding of general damages was appropriate

Orders

  • The preliminary objection that the appeal was incompetent due to the decree bearing the wrong date is rejected.
  • The appeal is dismissed.
  • The respondent shall recover her costs in the High Court and in the court below.

Rules and key headnotes

Appeals — Competence — Decree Bearing Wrong Date
An appeal is against the judgment, not the decree, and a mistake by the trial court in inserting the wrong date on the decree cannot be visited upon the appellant to render the appeal incompetent, particularly where the Constitution guarantees substantive justice over procedural technicalities.
Rules of Procedure — Application — Constitutional Mandate for Substantive Justice
Rules of procedure are the handmaid of justice and must be applied with due regard to the circumstances of each case; they cannot be used to deny a party who is entitled to a remedy the right to justice, especially where Article 126(2)(e) of the Constitution mandates substantive justice without undue regard to technicalities.
Defamation — Elements — Definition of Defamatory Statement
A defamatory statement is one which injures the reputation of the plaintiff by lowering him in the estimation of right-thinking members of society or causing them to shun or avoid him, and includes statements that bring a person into hatred, contempt, or ridicule or reflect negatively on character, morality, or integrity.
Defamation — Publication — Requirement
For a claim of defamation to succeed, the plaintiff must show that the defamatory statement was published, meaning it was made known to at least one person other than the person claiming to have been defamed; publication need not be to the public at large.
Defamation — Proof of Belief — Not Required
There is no need to show that anyone believed a defamatory statement; if words are used which impute discreditable conduct, the person has been defamed even if the hearer does not believe the imputation or knows it to be untrue.
Admissions — Admissibility Against Party
Admissions by a party to a proceeding are admissible against him or her but not in favour of such party to disprove the truth of the fact stated; when an admission is tendered against a party, he or she is entitled to have proved as part of the adversary's case so much of the whole statement as is necessary to explain the admission.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (11)

  • Alexander Marrison v Ms Versi and Another (1953) 20 EACA 26
  • Mukasa v Ocholi [1968] EA 89
  • Robert Biiso v Mary Tibamwenda (High Court Civil Suit No. 8 of 1990)
  • Utex Industries Ltd v Attorney General (Supreme Court Civil Application No. 52 of 1995)
  • Kibuuka Musoke William and Another v Apollo Kaggwa (Civil Application No. 46 of 1997)
  • Banco Draake Espanal v Bank of Uganda (Civil Application No. 42 of 1998)
  • Ntangoba v Editor in Chief of the New Vision Newspaper and Another (2004) 2 EA 234
  • Sim v Stretch [1936] AC
  • Hough v London Express (1940)
  • Selle v Associated Motor Boat Co Ltd and Others [1968] EA 123
  • Zarina v Noshir [1963] EA 239

Full judgment

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

Mukasa v Nabukenya (Civil Appeal No. 35 of 2007) [2012] UGHC 302 (20 April 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.