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Nanding & 6 Others v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause 22 of 2024)

High Court · [2024] UGHCCD 127 · 2024 Judicial Review Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review seeking certiorari to quash Ministry of Public Service decision revising applicants' salary scale downwards
Decision
Application for judicial review granted; certiorari issued quashing the salary reduction decision; mandamus issued directing payment of salary arrears

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court granted judicial review quashing the Ministry of Public Service's decision to reduce salaries of Uganda Police Force legal officers. The court held that the salary reduction violated Article 158(1) of the Constitution prohibiting disadvantageous alteration of salaries charged on the Consolidated Fund, unlawfully countermanded a 2010 Presidential Directive equating police lawyers' salaries with DPP lawyers, and breached legitimate expectation. The Ministry lacked authority to reverse a Presidential Directive. The reduction was illegal, unconstitutional, irrational, and violated natural justice by denying applicants a hearing.

Outcome

Application for judicial review granted; certiorari issued quashing the salary reduction decision; mandamus issued directing payment of salary arrears

Facts

Seven Uganda Police Force legal officers applied for judicial review after the Ministry of Public Service reduced their salaries in October 2022. In 2010, following a Presidential Directive, police legal officers' salaries were enhanced to equal those of lawyers in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP). This enhanced scale continued from 2010 to 2022. In 2022, some applicants received appointment/promotion letters reflecting enhanced salaries and were paid for three months. The Ministry then issued a letter alleging overpayment and an addendum reverting salaries downward, claiming payroll officers had unlawfully changed salary codes. The Ministry contended no Circular Standing Instruction authorised the enhancement. Some applicants had secured loans based on the enhanced salaries and faced financial hardship from the reduction.

Issues

  1. Whether the decision by the Ministry of Public Service to revise/revert the applicants' salaries is tainted with illegality and irrationality?
  2. Whether the decision by the Ministry of Public Service to revise/revert the applicants' salaries constitutes a breach of the applicants' legitimate expectation?
  3. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • A declaratory order that the decision to revise the salary payments of the Uganda Police Force Legal Professionals downwards below the enhanced salary scale was a violation of the Presidential Directive and an attempt to undermine the Fountain of Honour.
  • A declaration that the decision of Ministry of Public Service to revise the salary structure of the Uganda Police Force Legal Officers downwards below the enhanced salary scale was unconstitutional, illegal and ultra vires.
  • An Order of Certiorari issues to quash the decision of the Ministry of Public Service to revise the salary structure of the Uganda Police Force legal officers downwards below the enhanced salary scale.
  • An Order of Mandamus issues directing the respondent to pay or cause payment to be made to the applicants and others within that category of legal officers all salary arrears resulting from the non-payment or underpayment of their enhanced salary.
  • Costs are awarded to the applicants.

Rules and key headnotes

Judicial Review — Illegality — Authority to Vary Salaries
The Ministry of Public Service and Public Service Commission cannot unilaterally reverse or countermand a Presidential Directive that has been implemented and acted upon, as doing so would amount to insubordination and usurpation of presidential powers.
Article 158(1) — Protection Against Salary Reduction
Where a salary or allowance of the holder of any office is charged on the Consolidated Fund, it shall not be altered to the holder's disadvantage after appointment. A unilateral reduction of salary by the Ministry of Public Service violates Article 158(1) of the Constitution and amounts to a breach of terms of employment.
Presidential Directives — Self-Enforcing Nature and Binding Effect
Presidential Directives in Uganda's presidential system are self-enforcing and binding on subordinate executive agencies. Once issued and implemented, they create constitutional rights and entitlements that cannot be casually taken away at the discretion of lower officials without presidential authority.
Legitimate Expectation — Established Practice and Promissory Estoppel
Where government has made express representations or established a settled practice over a substantial period (twelve years), citizens acquire a legitimate expectation that the practice will continue. The practice cannot be withdrawn without affording affected persons an opportunity to be heard. Legitimate expectation and promissory estoppel require the administration to stand by its representations, especially where citizens have relied on them to their detriment.
Irrationality — Wednesbury Unreasonableness
A decision is irrational and subject to judicial review where it is so outrageous in defiance of logic that no sensible person who applied their mind to the question could have arrived at it. Unilaterally reducing salaries after issuing appointment letters reflecting enhanced terms, and after payment had been made for several months, constitutes Wednesbury unreasonableness.
Right to Fair Hearing — Article 42 and Natural Justice
The right to a fair hearing under Article 42 of the Constitution is non-derogable and imposes an obligation on public bodies to hear both sides before making administrative decisions that adversely affect rights. Unilaterally reducing salaries without affording affected officers a hearing violates natural justice and Article 42.

Legislation cited (14)

Cases cited (11)

  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for Civil Service [1985] AC 374
  • Namuganza Persis Princess v Attorney General (HCMC No. 111 of 2022)
  • Beti Kamya Turwomwe v Attorney General & Another (HCMC No. 209 of 2022)
  • R (March) v Secretary of State for Health [2010] EWHC 765 (Admin)
  • R (MD (Gambia)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 121
  • Dr. Peter Okello versus Kyambogo University & Another
  • R v North and East Devon Health Authority ex p Coughlan [2001] QB 213
  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 629
  • National Buildings Construction Corporation v S Raghunathan [1998] 7 SCC 66
  • Johnson Brothers v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2009] EWHC 580
  • High Court Civil Suit No. 160 of 2008

Full judgment

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Nanding & 6 Others v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause 22 of 2024) [2024] UGHCCD 127 (16 August 2024)
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.