Wakilii

Sendege v Nanono & Another (Miscellaneous Application 24 of 2019)

High Court · [2021] UGHCFD 230 · 2021 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for appointment of administratrix of a deceased judgment debtor's estate for purposes of execution
Decision
Application dismissed — applicant may pursue appropriate procedure through the Administrator General if estate exists

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (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 1 time 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.

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 court dismissed the application seeking appointment of the deceased judgment debtor's daughters as administratrix for purposes of executing a decree. While section 222 of the Succession Act permits such appointments, the court held that it could not grant Letters of Administration to a nominee who expressly stated unwillingness and inability to act, who had no knowledge of the suit against the deceased, and where the applicant failed to prove the existence of estate property to be administered for execution purposes.

Outcome

Application dismissed — applicant may pursue appropriate procedure through the Administrator General if estate exists

Facts

The applicant obtained judgment in Civil Suit No. 76 of 2012 against Monica Nansubuga on 13 December 2016. Before execution could commence, the judgment debtor passed away. The applicant sought appointment of the deceased's two daughters as administratrix of her estate for purposes of completing execution of the decree. The first respondent confirmed she was the deceased's daughter but stated the deceased had distributed all her property before death, that she had no knowledge of any suit against her mother, and that she was unwilling and unable to act as administrator due to ill health. The second respondent made no response to the application. The applicant failed to prove the existence of any estate property available for administration.

Issues

  1. Whether Nanono Anamaria and Nowe Nabyonga Betty can be appointed administratrix of the estate of the late Monica Nansubuga who was the defendant/judgment debtor in Civil Suit No. 76 of 2012, for purposes of completing the case by way of execution of the decree arising there from
  2. Whether the costs of the application should be provided for

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Letters of Administration — Section 222 Succession Act — Appointment of Representative for Pending Suit — Discretionary Nature
Under section 222 of the Succession Act Cap. 162, the grant of Letters of Administration limited for purposes of representing a deceased party in pending litigation is discretionary, as indicated by the word 'may'. The court will not grant such Letters to a nominee who has expressly stated unwillingness and inability to act, particularly where the nominee has no knowledge of the underlying suit and denies the existence of estate property to administer.
Letters of Administration — Purpose — Requirement of Estate Property
Letters of Administration are issued for purposes of administering property and credits of a deceased person. Where there is evidence of credits (judgment debts) to be administered but no evidence of the existence of estate property, and the applicant makes no effort to prove that property exists for administration, the court will not grant Letters of Administration as such an order would be redundant and inoperative.
Execution — Deceased Judgment Debtor — Role of Administrator General
Where a judgment creditor seeks to execute against the estate of a deceased judgment debtor and the deceased's relatives are unwilling or unable to act as administrators, the appropriate procedure is to involve the office of the Administrator General, who is the Public Trustee of persons who die intestate.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (3)

  • Kalumba Benjamin & Another v Kakira Sugar Works & Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 4611 of 2014)
  • Copper v Smith [1884] 26 CHD 700
  • Attorney General & Another v James Mark Kamoga & Another (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2004)

Cases citing this judgment (1)

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

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

Sendege v Nanono & Another (Miscellaneous Application 24 of 2019) [2021] UGHCFD 230 (3 December 2021)
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.