Wakilii

Mwesigwa t/a Rest Assured Furniture Home v Kabunga Kasule (Civil Suit No. 151 of 2011)

High Court · [2013] UGHC 267 · 2013 Judgment for Defendant AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit claiming damages for allegedly wrongful eviction and destruction of property during execution of distress order
Decision
Plaintiff's claim for UGX 100,000,000 in special damages, general damages, and interest dismissed in entirety

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where a tenant occupies premises under a registered proprietor and frustrates formalisation of tenancy by refusing to execute a lease agreement following a consent order, and is subsequently evicted pursuant to a distress order, the tenant cannot claim damages for property allegedly destroyed during eviction where evidence shows he had removed his chattels before execution and the eviction was conducted by court-appointed bailiffs acting as agents of the court, not the landlord.

Outcome

Plaintiff's claim for UGX 100,000,000 in special damages, general damages, and interest dismissed in entirety

Facts

The plaintiff occupied land owned by defendant's late father from 1974, operating a furniture workshop and paying rent. After the father's death in 1986, defendant sought to collect rent but plaintiff refused. Defendant filed Civil Suit 1152 of 1999 for trespass and eviction. In 2002, the parties reached a consent order providing for valuation of the premises and execution of a formal lease agreement. A valuation was conducted in June 2003 and a lease agreement was drawn up and forwarded to plaintiff, but plaintiff neither signed nor commented on it for three years. In 2005, defendant obtained a special certificate of distress for UGX 8,700,000 in rent arrears from Nabweru Magistrates Court. During execution of the distress order in June 2005, plaintiff alleged that equipment and property worth UGX 100,000,000 was destroyed. Plaintiff brought this suit claiming special damages of UGX 100,000,000, general damages, and interest.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaintiff's property was destroyed by the defendant.
  2. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to compensation.
  3. Whether the plaintiff is a bonafide occupant on the land.

Orders

  • Suit dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the defendant.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Execution — Liability of Judgment Creditor for Acts of Bailiffs
Where court bailiffs execute a distress order, they act as agents of the court, not the judgment creditor. The judgment creditor who neither instructed nor had control over the bailiffs cannot be held liable for damage allegedly caused by the bailiffs during execution.
Civil Procedure — Consent Orders — Effect on Pending Proceedings
The signing and extraction of a consent order brings an end to proceedings in the suit. Where parties reached a consent order in December 2002 providing for valuation and execution of a lease, and distress proceedings were commenced three years later in 2005, there was no pending suit at the time of distress to give rise to a claim of abuse of court process.
Damages & Quantum — Proof of Loss — Special Damages
A plaintiff claiming special damages must prove on a balance of probabilities both the existence of the property allegedly lost and the quantum claimed. Where a plaintiff assigns value to claimed property arbitrarily without producing receipts, purchase documentation, or other evidence attesting to the value claimed, the claim will fail.
Land & Property — Bonafide Occupancy — Definition and Requirements
Under section 29(2)(a) of the Land Act Cap 227, a bonafide occupant is a person who occupied and utilised or developed land unchallenged by the registered owner or agent of the registered owner for 12 years or more. Where a tenant's utilisation of land was challenged by the landlord when the tenant forcefully erected semi-permanent structures in breach of agreement, and a subsequent consent order regulated the tenancy, the tenant does not qualify as a bonafide occupant.

Legislation cited (1)

Full judgment

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Mwesigwa t_a Rest Assured Furniture Home v Kabunga Kasule (Civil Suit No. 151 of 2011) [2013] UGHC 267 (13 November 2013)
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.