Wakilii

Rwanyarare v Attorney General & Anor (Hct-05-cv-cs-0095-2001)

High Court · [2010] UGHC 32 · 2010 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for trespass and compensation
Decision
Judgment entered for the plaintiff with damages and costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that a customary owner whose lease has expired but who remains in effective and lawful occupation is protected and entitled to compensation. Government's invasion of the plaintiff's ranch in 1990 and subsequent surveying off of 3.17 square miles in 1997 to settle 22 defendants without hearing the customary owner constituted trespass and deprivation of land. The suit filed in 2001 was within the six-year limitation period from the 1997 deprivation. Titles granted to defendants were null and void as procured through fraud.

Outcome

Judgment entered for the plaintiff with damages and costs

Facts

In 1976, the plaintiff purchased Ranch No. 3 in the Ankole Ranching Scheme and was registered as proprietor in 1983 with a 21-year lease backdated to 1966. He developed the farm with exotic cattle, desilted dams, erected fencing and paddocks, and planted eucalyptus trees. The lease expired in 1987. In November 1990, armed soldiers and LDUs invaded the farm with civilian cattle keepers who brought diseased local cattle, causing the death of 876 of the plaintiff's exotic cattle. The plaintiff protested to local councils, police, and the Ranch Restructuring Board but received no relief. In 1997, government surveyors carved out 3.17 square miles from the plaintiff's ranch and distributed it to 22 defendants without compensation or hearing the plaintiff. In 2004, government paid the plaintiff UGX 17,000,000 as partial compensation. The defendants did not attend trial or adduce any evidence.

Issues

  1. Whether there was a trespass.
  2. What remedies are available.

Orders

  • Special damages awarded totaling UGX 1,759,561,000.
  • General damages awarded in the sum of UGX 1,200,000,000.
  • Interest on special damages at court rate from date of filing until payment in full.
  • Interest on general damages at court rate from date of judgment until payment in full.
  • All payments to be reduced by UGX 17,000,000 already received by the plaintiff.
  • Costs of the suit awarded to the plaintiff.

Rules and key headnotes

Customary Tenure — Rights of Former Leaseholder After Expiry
Once a lease expires, the registered proprietorship reverts to the Uganda Land Commission, but the former leaseholder becomes a customary owner entitled to remain in effective and lawful occupation and to protection under customary tenure.
Customary Tenure — Duty to Hear Before Alienation
Under section 25 of the Public Land Act, before the Uganda Land Commission can alienate land occupied by a customary owner, it must hear and consider that owner first, even where the Commission believes another person would develop the land better.
Customary Tenure — Right to Compensation
A customary owner is entitled to compensation where the controlling authority grants a lease to another person, and the new lessee is duty bound to compensate any person occupying the land by customary tenure under section 24(4) of the Public Land Act and section 3(3)(b)(iv) of the Land Reform Decree.
Trespass — Continuing Tort
Where government invades a customary owner's land in 1990 and subsequently surveys off part of it in 1997 to grant titles to strangers without hearing the owner, there is a continuing tort of trespass from the initial invasion to the formal deprivation by surveying and granting titles.
Fraud — Nullity of Titles
The granting of land titles carved from a customary owner's holding while the owner is in occupation and protesting is an act of fraud that renders those titles null and void.
Limitation — Deprivation of Land
Under section 187 of the Registration of Titles Act, the limitation period for an action for damages arising from deprivation of land runs from the date of deprivation, which occurs when government surveys off the land and grants titles to third parties, not from the date of initial trespass.
Land Act — Entitlement to Fresh Grant
Section 95(4) of the Land Act entitles a former leaseholder who has developed the land to a fresh grant, with the implied condition that if no fresh grant is given, the occupant's objections must be heard first.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (4)

  • Kigozi Mayambale v Sentamu and Another [1987] HCB 68
  • Garage Properties Ltd v Kampala City Council (HCCS 576 of 1996)
  • Matovu and Others v Sseviri and Another [1979] HCB 174
  • Katarikawe v Katweiremu and Another [1977] HCB 187

Full judgment

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

Rwanyarare v Attorney General & Anor (Hct-05-cv-cs-0095-2001) [2010] UGHC 32 (15 March 2010)
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.