Wakilii

Nathan Katamba v Stephen Kabigyema (High Court Rev. No.42 Of 1998) (High Court Rev. No.42 of 1998)

High Court · [2000] UGHC 33 · 2000 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for revisional order opposed by three preliminary objections
Decision
Application dismissed for lack of supporting evidence after affidavit struck out

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the application for a revisional order after finding that the applicant's affidavit contained a forged document. The court ruled that the amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules requiring summary of evidence and witness lists came into force on the date of gazette publication, not signature, and thus did not apply to the earlier-filed application. The court followed Court of Appeal authority that unauthenticated annextures do not invalidate a properly commissioned affidavit. However, the court struck out the affidavit for containing a forged signature on one of its annextures, leaving the motion unsupported.

Outcome

Application dismissed for lack of supporting evidence after affidavit struck out

Facts

The applicant Nathan Katamba sought a revisional order from the High Court. The respondent Stephen Kabigyema raised three preliminary objections through counsel. The first objection challenged compliance with amended Civil Procedure Rules requiring summaries of evidence and witness lists. The second challenged the authentication of annextures to the supporting affidavit. The third alleged that the affidavit contained a forged document at Annexture C, purporting to be signed by Edson Nuwabine regarding whether the LC I Court held a trial on disputed land. The court examined the document and found the signature to be a forgery manufactured by the applicant.

Issues

  1. Whether the application complied with the procedural requirements of Order 6 rule 1(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules.
  2. Whether the failure to authenticate annextures to an affidavit in accordance with the Commissioner for Oaths Rules rendered the affidavit invalid.
  3. Whether the affidavit in support contained a falsehood requiring it to be struck out.

Orders

  • The first preliminary objection is misconceived and dismissed.
  • The second preliminary objection fails and is dismissed.
  • The third preliminary objection is upheld.
  • The affidavit in support is struck out.
  • The application is dismissed with costs to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Statutory Instruments — Commencement — Date of Effect
Where a statutory instrument does not provide for a date of commencement, it comes into force on the date of its publication in the Gazette as provided by section 17(1)(a) of the Interpretation Decree 1976.
Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Compliance with Amended Rules — Temporal Application
An application filed before the date of gazette publication of amended Civil Procedure Rules is not required to comply with new procedural requirements introduced by those amendments, even if the amendments were signed earlier by the Chief Justice.
Evidence — Affidavits — Authentication of Annextures — Effect of Non-compliance
The omission by a Commissioner for Oaths to verify and seal annextures to an affidavit does not invalidate the affidavit itself where the affidavit is properly commissioned, following binding Court of Appeal authority.
Evidence — Affidavits — False Affidavits — Striking Out
Where an affidavit supporting an application contains a forged document or other falsehood, the entire affidavit becomes suspect and must be struck out, rendering the application unsupported and liable to dismissal.
Civil Procedure — Applications — Clean Hands Doctrine
An applicant who manufactures evidence to support an application does not come to court with clean hands and the application will be dismissed where the supporting affidavit contains such fabricated material.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (7)

  • Faraz Kassam v Commissioner for Land Registration and Meera Investments Ltd (Misc. Appl. No. 24 of 1996)
  • Intraship (U) Ltd v Trans-Africa Insurance Co. Ltd (Misc. Application No. 298 of 1999)
  • Bitaitana v Kananura (1977) HCB 34
  • Dr. Menge Stephen v Dr. C. B. Musinguzi (Misc. Appl. No. 0077 of 2000)
  • Henry Ssebunya v Kenfreight (U) Ltd (Civil Suit No. 988 of 1998)
  • James Matsiko v Uganda Railways Corporation (Misc. App. No. 826 of 1998)
  • Uganda Corporation Creameries Ltd and Henry Kawalya v Reamation (Civil Appeal No. 44 of 1998)

Full judgment

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

Nathan Katamba v Stephen Kabigyema (High Court Rev. No.42 Of 1998) (High Court Rev. No.42 of 1998) [2000] UGHC 33 (20 December 2000)
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.