Samuel Wako Wambuzi v Editor in Chief Red pepper & Anor (Civil Suit No. 305 of 2015) [2017] UGHCCD 38 (4 May 2017)
[2017] UGHCCD 38
Samuel Wako Wambuzi v Editor in Chief Red pepper & Anor (Civil Suit No. 305 of 2015)
High Court
· [2017] UGHCCD 38
· 2017
Judgment for Plaintiff
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Observed later treatment
Cited — treatment unverified
cited in 2 (treatment unverified)
Sequitur — Uganda’s citator · Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.
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.
No adverse treatment recorded
Cited 2 times with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits.
Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — a deterministic signal, not legal advice.
Judicial journey
Appeal & case history
Follow this matter from the decision below through each appellate court.
Affirmed
The decision below was upheld.
See the court’s words
“paid on both the general and exemplary damages on the terms set and ordered by the trial Court is also upheld.”
No later appellate decision was located in the Wakilii corpus. Linked from court records and operative language in the judgments.
AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.
Holding
The High Court held that the defendant newspaper's publication falsely alleging that the retired Chief Justice owed UGX 10 billion in debts and lived beyond his means was defamatory. The court awarded UGX 375 million in general damages plus UGX 50 million in exemplary damages, finding the publication disparaged the plaintiff's highly esteemed reputation and the defendants had not apologised despite the falsity of the statements.
Outcome
Judgment entered for the Plaintiff with general and exemplary damages, interest, permanent injunction, and costs
Facts
The plaintiff, a retired three-time Chief Justice of Uganda, sued the defendants for libel after they published an article titled '100 Most Indebted Personalities Revealed' on 11 October 2015. The article falsely stated that the plaintiff was the proprietor of Greenhill Schools and was struggling with a UGX 10 billion loan from a commercial bank, living beyond his means. The plaintiff testified that he was not the proprietor (the school was founded by his late wife and others, with shares now held by their children), held only one directorship among seven directors, and neither he nor the schools owed any loans. The defendants admitted the loan had been paid six months before publication and that the plaintiff was not the proprietor, but defended the suit without proving the truth of the publication.
Issues
- Whether the publication was false and defamatory of the Plaintiff?
- Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to the remedies prayed for?
Orders
- The Defendants shall pay to the Plaintiff general damages for libel in the sum of UGX 375,000,000.
- The Defendants shall pay to the Plaintiff UGX 50,000,000 as exemplary damages.
- The Defendants shall pay interest on the sums awarded at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of judgment to the date of full payment.
- A permanent injunction is issued against the Defendants restraining them and their agents from further publishing similar defamatory statements of the Plaintiff.
- Costs of the suit awarded to the Plaintiff.
Rules and key headnotes
Defamation — Libel — Test for Defamatory Meaning
A statement is defamatory if it tends to bring a person into hatred, contempt or ridicule, or if the words tend to lower the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally, or if they tend to cause the claimant to be shunned or avoided.
Defamation — Burden of Proof — Falsity of Publication
The burden of proving that a publication is false and defamatory lies on the plaintiff, to be discharged on a balance of probabilities where it is more probable than not.
Defamation — Natural and Ordinary Meaning — Innuendo
Where a publication falsely attributes to a retired judicial officer of high stature dishonesty, pretence, and failure to repay loans, the natural and ordinary meaning in the mind and eyes of a reasonable reader is that the person is dishonest and of pretentious character, thereby disparaging the person's highly esteemed reputation and lowering him in the estimation of right-thinking members of society.
Defamation — General Damages — Assessment Factors
In assessing compensatory damages for defamation, the court considers the reputation of the claimant, the gravity of the libel, the extent of the publication, the effect of the publication, whether the plea of truth is successful, and whether the defendant has apologised or taken the plaintiff through a full trial.
Defamation — Exemplary Damages — When Awarded
Exemplary damages, being punitive or penal in nature, are awarded to punish and deter a defendant from repeating wrongful conduct where the defendant's conduct has been calculated to make a profit which may well exceed the compensation payable to the plaintiff.
Defamation — Apology — What Constitutes an Apology
An article whose heading is in direct speech purportedly by the plaintiff and whose content is in reported speech referring to words by the plaintiff's lawyers does not amount to an apology by the defendant, particularly where the defendant pleads truth of the publication and only resorts to the purported apology in anticipation of mitigation.
Defamation — Approbation and Reprobation — Defendant Estopped
A defendant who unsuccessfully pleads the truth of a publication cannot rescind that position and rely on a purported apology in anticipation of the benefit of mitigation, as that amounts to approbation and reprobation and the defendant is estopped.
Legislation cited (3)
- Evidence Act Cap. 6 s.101
- Evidence Act Cap. 6 s.103
- Civil Procedure Rules O.15 r.5
Cases cited (9)
- John v MGN Ltd [1996] 2 All ER 47
- Rebecca Kadaga v Richard Tusiime & 2 Ors (High Court Civil Suit No. 56 of 2013)
- Samuel Ndungu'u Mukunyu v National Media Group & Anor (High Court of Kenya Civil Suit No. 420 of 2011)
- Sempa Lugayizi v Teddy Ssezi-Cheeye & Anor (High Court Civil Suit No. 644 of 2001)
- Ntabgoba Herbert v The New Vision (High Court Civil Suit No. 113 of 2003)
- Stubbs Ltd v Russel [1913] AC 386
- Miller v Minister of Pensions [1947] 2 All ER 372
- Rookes v Barnard [1964] AC 1129
- Obonge v Kisumu Council [1971] EA 91
Cases citing this judgment (2)
How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.
Full judgment
The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.
Samuel Wako Wambuzi v Editor in Chief Red pepper & Anor (Civil Suit No. 305 of 2015) [2017] UGHCCD 38 (4 May 2017)
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