Wakilii

Rutaama & Anor v Attorney General & Anor (Civil Appeal No. 80 of 2012)

Court of Appeal · [2015] UGCA 74 · 2015 Appeal Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First appeal from a High Court judgment dismissing a civil suit for damages for property wrongfully taken and converted
Decision
Appeal allowed; lower court judgment set aside and judgment entered for the appellants with damages totalling UGX 160,000,000 plus interest and costs

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding the trial Judge had failed to properly evaluate the evidence and wrongly doubted that the appellants, being nomadic pastoralists, could own 500 head of cattle. The Court held that nomads are entitled to own property under Article 26 of the Constitution, and that the respondents, having taken charge of and ferried away the appellants' cattle without accounting for them, became bailees obliged to return them. Their high-handed, oppressive treatment of the appellants justified compensation. The Court awarded special damages of UGX 100,000,000, general damages of UGX 50,000,000 and aggravated damages of UGX 10,000,000.

Outcome

Appeal allowed; lower court judgment set aside and judgment entered for the appellants with damages totalling UGX 160,000,000 plus interest and costs

Facts

In June 2004 the appellants obtained a movement permit to move 500 head of cattle from Masindi to Maruzi Ranch in Apac District, where they grazed their cattle, though without formal authority to occupy the ranch. Following reports of crop destruction by their herds, the Resident District Commissioner's office and Apac District officials ordered them to vacate. The Commissioner for Livestock Health and Entomology, Dr. Kauta, wrote advising quarantine of the cattle under the Animal Disease Act. On 18 August 2004 the appellants were arrested and charged with forcible entry under section 77 of the Penal Code Act. Their cattle were left unattended and allegedly ferried back to Masindi, but there was no record of to whom the cattle were handed over. The appellants sued for special, general and aggravated damages for their lost cattle and household property. The High Court dismissed the suit, doubting that nomadic pastoralists could own such property and finding the claims unproven.

Issues

  1. Whether the trial Judge failed to properly evaluate the evidence adduced by the plaintiffs, causing injustice.
  2. Whether the respondents' destruction and taking of the appellants' cattle and property violated their constitutional right to own property.
  3. Whether the appellants were entitled to special, general and aggravated damages for the loss of their cattle and property.

Orders

  • Judgment and decree of the lower court set aside.
  • Appellants awarded special damages of UGX 100,000,000 in lieu of their 500 heads of cattle which they lost.
  • General damages of UGX 50,000,000 awarded.
  • Aggravated damages of UGX 10,000,000 awarded for the high-handed, oppressive and arbitrary treatment.
  • Interest on the special damages at 20% per annum until payment in full.
  • Costs of the appeal and of the court below awarded to the appellants.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — First Appeal — Duty to Re-evaluate Evidence
As the first appellate court, the Court of Appeal is empowered under rule 30(i) of the Court of Appeal Rules to re-appraise the evidence on record and draw its own inferences of fact, while carefully weighing the judgment appealed against.
Constitutional Law — Right to Property — Pastoralists' Equal Entitlement
Nomadic pastoralists are entitled, as Ugandans, to own property under Article 26 of the Constitution, and a court errs in doubting their capacity to own livestock or other property merely on account of their nomadic way of life.
Tort Law — Bailment — Obligation to Return Property Taken into Charge
Where authorities take charge of and remove a person's property, they place themselves in the position of a bailee and are under a legal obligation to return the property in the same numbers and condition; failure to do so deprives the owner of property and violates the constitutional right of ownership.
Tort Law — Self-help — Unlawful to Take the Law into One's Own Hands
Even where occupiers have unlawfully entered land and are charged with forcible entry, the authorities must allow the law to take its course and may not take the law into their own hands by high-handedly evicting and dispossessing them; doing so condemns the persons unheard.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Pleading and Proof
Special damages must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved, though not necessarily by documentary evidence; where there is documentary and oral evidence of substantial loss, the court may assess an appropriate sum reflecting the actual loss incurred.
Damages & Quantum — Aggravated Damages — Manner of Conduct
Aggravated damages are compensatory in nature, awarded for injury to the plaintiff's feelings and dignity caused by the malicious, insolent, oppressive or arbitrary manner in which the defendant inflicted the injury.

Legislation cited (6)

Cases cited (6)

  • Bogere Moses v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 1 of 1997)
  • Kifamunte v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)
  • Stroms vs. Hutchinson (1905) AC 515
  • Uganda Revenue Authority v Wanume David Kitamirike (Civil Appeal No. 43 of 2010)
  • Rookes v. Bernard (1964) ALLER 367
  • W. N. Kyambadde versus Mpigi District Administration

Full judgment

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

Rutaama & Anor Vs Attorney General & Anor (Civil Appeal No. 80 of 2012) [2015] UGCA 74 (24 June 2015)
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.