Re In The Matter of Wasswa James &Nakato Immaculate (Family Cause No. 185 of 2010)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

The High Court appointed Dutch citizens as legal guardians of three-year-old twins whose mother was deceased and whose father had abandoned them and consented to the application. The court held that the applicants were suitable guardians based on their employment status, clean criminal records, positive home study report, and the paramount principle that the welfare of the child is of paramount importance under section 3 of the Children Act. The guardians were permitted to travel with the children to the Netherlands for adoption there.

Outcome

Applicants appointed legal guardians with permission to travel with children to the Netherlands for adoption

Facts

Three-year-old twins, Waiswa James and Nakato Immaculate, were born to a mother who died immediately after delivery. Their father, Igenda Grace, was not present at the time and his whereabouts were unknown. A person named Sarah initially cared for the twins, but they were subsequently transferred to Welcome Home Ministries Africa, which cared for them under a court order. The father was eventually traced through the LC1 chairperson but stated in his affidavit that he could not look after the children and consented to the guardianship application. The applicants, Simon Cornelis Weerstand (31 years, businessman) and Trudia Weerstand-Kramer (29 years, teacher), both Dutch citizens and married to each other, sought appointment as legal guardians with the intention of taking the children to the Netherlands for adoption. A home study report recommended the applicants as suitable for adoptive purposes. Both applicants had clean criminal records and were gainfully employed.

Issues

1. Whether the application is for the welfare and in the best interests of the children.
2. Whether the applicants are suitable guardians for the children.

Orders

• The applicants, Simon Cornelis Weerstand and Trudia Weerstand-Kramer, are appointed legal guardians of the Twins, Waiswa James and Nakato Immaculate.
• The applicants are directed to register the order with the Registrar of Documents, Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kampala.
• The applicants are directed to register the order with Netherlands Embassy in Kampala and the Ugandan Embassy in the Netherlands.
• The applicants are directed to obtain Ugandan passports for the children and renew them from time to time as required by law.
• The applicants are permitted to travel out of Uganda with the children and are permitted to adopt the children in the Netherlands so that they can fix the residence of the children permanently and they will be able to benefit from the entitlements due to biological and adoptive children of Dutch citizens.
• The petitioner are directed to register the order with the authority responsible for family and child welfare in the Netherlands, and file a report once every year to the Registrar Family Division, High Court, Kampala, regarding the state of the welfare and development of the child until the child is 18 years of age or until directed otherwise.
• No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (8)

• Constitution of Uganda 1995 Article 139(1)
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.14
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.33
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.39
• Children Act Cap 59 s.2
• Children Act Cap 59 s.3
• Children Act Cap 59 First Schedule Paragraph 1(b)
• Civil Procedure Act s.98

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