Registered Trustees of Sebei Diocese at Chemwania Church of Uganda v Satya (Civil Appeal 58 of 2024)

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 held that the Appellant, Registered Trustees of Sebei Diocese at Chemwania Church of Uganda, was not proven to be a registered legal entity capable of being sued. Under the Trustees Incorporation Act, religious bodies must be incorporated and issued with a certificate of registration to acquire legal personality. The Respondent, who sued the Appellant as a registered entity, bore the burden of proving its legal existence but failed to produce a certificate of incorporation. An illegality, once established, overrides all proceedings and can be raised at any stage. The suit and appeal were struck off as nullities for proceeding against a non-existent party.

Outcome

Both the original suit and the appeal struck off as nullities for proceeding against a non-existent legal entity

Facts

The Respondent sued the Appellant for recovery of approximately 15 acres of land allegedly belonging to the estate of the late Stefano Mangusho. The Respondent claimed his grandfather had been in customary possession of the land since time immemorial until his death in 1995, and that the Appellant had encroached on it. The Appellant defended, claiming it had owned and occupied the land for over 78 years, establishing schools, a church, and other structures. The trial magistrate found for the Respondent, declared the Appellant a trespasser, and awarded damages of UGX 10,000,000. On appeal, counsel for the Appellant raised a preliminary objection that the Appellant was not a registered legal entity capable of being sued. The Respondent had pleaded in the amended plaint that the Appellant was a registered entity but produced no certificate of incorporation.

Issues

1. Whether the Appellant is a legal entity with capacity to sue or be sued.
2. Whether the lower court proceedings were a nullity for being instituted against a non-existent legal entity.
3. Whether an illegality can be raised for the first time on appeal.

Orders

• Civil Suit No. 0021 of 2018 struck off the court record.
• Civil Appeal No. 58 of 2024 struck off the court record.
• No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (6)

• Trustees Incorporation Act Cap 271 s.2
• Trustees Incorporation Act Cap 271 s.3
• Trustees Incorporation Act Cap 271 s.8
• Evidence Act Cap 8 s.101
• Evidence Act Cap 8 s.102
• Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations 295-2 Regulation 17

Cases cited (4)

• Ham Enterprises Limited and 2 others v Diamond Trust Bank (U) Limited and Another (Civil Appeal No. 13 of 2021)
• Malinga & 6 others v Kapchorwa Moslem Supreme Council (Civil Appeal No. 194 of 2018)
• Makula International Limited v His Eminence Cardinal Nsubuga and Another (Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1981)
• Kisugu Quarries v The Administrator General (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 10 of 1998)

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