Wakilii

Nadduli Abdul v Commissioner Land Registration and Sixty-Nine Others (Civil Suit 290 of 2022)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 301 · 2025 Suit Struck Out AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ruling on preliminary objection in first instance civil suit for recovery of land
Decision
Suit struck out against all defendants. Caveat to be removed. Counterclaim by 69th defendant survives.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that a suit to recover land from the estate of a person who died in 1924 and whose estate was governed by the 1912 Succession law of the Kingdom of Buganda is barred by limitation under sections 5 and 6 of the Limitation Act, as the action was brought 97 years after death. The estate ceased to exist once distributed to beneficiaries by the Buganda Lukiiko, and subsequent registrations to third parties were valid. The plaint disclosed no cause of action. Suit struck out.

Outcome

Suit struck out against all defendants. Caveat to be removed. Counterclaim by 69th defendant survives.

Facts

The plaintiff, as administrator of the estate of late Abdala Sempa Omubinge who died in 1924, sued 70 defendants for fraudulent acquisition of land originally comprised in FC 12895 Folio 23 Volume 85. The plaintiff obtained letters of administration in 2012 under Administration Cause No. HCT-00-FD-AC-66 of 2011. The plaintiff is the grandson of the deceased. The original certificate of title showed Sempa was registered as proprietor on 18 June 1918. Between 1933 and 1966, numerous registrations of different proprietors occurred on parcels from the original title. The second defendant Roy Mayinja averred he acquired his plots between 1970 and 1993 from different people. The 69th defendant SIBCO Ltd traced its title through predecessors registered in 1978, 1960, and 1959. The defendants raised preliminary objections that the suit disclosed no cause of action and was barred by limitation.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaint discloses a cause of action against the defendants.
  2. Whether the suit is barred by limitation under the Limitation Act Cap. 290.

Orders

  • The suit is struck out as against all seventy (70) defendants for being barred by the Limitation Act Cap. 290 and for failure to disclose a cause of action.
  • The Commissioner Land Registration shall remove any caveat lodged by the plaintiff Nadduli Abdul against the suit land comprised in Bulemezi Block 320 Plots 4,8,9,10,16,17,18,20,22,37,38,39,40,64,65,69,71,78 and 80, and registered in the names of any of the defendants on receipt of this order which will come into effect twenty-one days from the date of this Ruling.
  • As the counterclaim by the 69th defendant Sibco Ltd survives the suit, the said defendant shall take necessary steps to prosecute it.
  • The plaintiff Nadduli Abdul shall pay costs of the suit to the second defendant Roy Mayinja only.
  • Costs of the suit with regard to the 69th defendant Sibco Ltd shall be in the cause.

Rules and key headnotes

Succession & Estates — Buganda Succession Law — Estates Governed by 1912 Succession Law — Effect of Distribution by Lukiiko
Estates of persons who died before 1967 were governed by the 1912 Succession law of the Kingdom of Buganda and are deemed to have been distributed thereunder. Once land was distributed to beneficiaries by the Buganda Lukiiko, the estate ceased to exist and beneficiaries had the right to transfer their interests to whomever they wished.
Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Cause of Action — Failure to Disclose
A plaint does not disclose a cause of action where the plaintiff seeks to recover an estate that ceased to exist upon distribution to beneficiaries under the applicable succession law, and where subsequent registrations to third parties occurred decades prior to the suit.
Land & Property — Recovery of Land — Limitation — Deceased Person's Estate
Under section 6 of the Limitation Act Cap. 290, the right to commence an action to recover land of a deceased person accrues on the date of his or her death. An action brought 97 years after the death of the person on whose behalf recovery is sought is barred by limitation.
Succession & Estates — Administrator General — Functus Officio — Re-administration of Distributed Estate
Where the Kabaka and the Lukiiko became functus officio upon issuance of succession certificates under the 1912 Buganda succession law, the Administrator General cannot administer the estate a second time and cannot legally issue a certificate of no objection to a subsequent administrator.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (1)

  • Paulo Kawesa v Administrator General and Two Others (Civil Suit No. 918 of 1993)

Full judgment

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Nadduli Abdul v Commissioner Land Registration and Sixty-Nine Others (Civil Suit 290 of 2022) [2025] UGHC 301 (17 April 2025)
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.