Serwadda & Ors v Nakiyamu Anor (Civil Suit No. 31 of 2013)

Observed later treatment

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

Held that counsel's continued representation did not prejudice the 2nd defendant because she was never actually his client despite being named as a plaintiff in the original plaint. The court found that the 2nd defendant had not given instructions to counsel's firm and had withdrawn from the suit stating she never authorised it. The preliminary objection was overruled with costs.

Outcome

Counsel Wetaka permitted to continue representing the plaintiffs; preliminary objection dismissed

Facts

This was a civil suit for revocation of letters of administration filed by four plaintiffs against two defendants who were joint administrators of an estate. The original plaint filed in 2013 named Rita Nalwadda Mayanja as the 12th plaintiff. An amended plaint subsequently made her the 2nd defendant. The 1st defendant's counsel raised a preliminary objection that plaintiffs' counsel Wetaka should withdraw from the case because he had previously represented the current 2nd defendant as a plaintiff and his continued representation would prejudice her under the Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations. However, the 2nd defendant had filed a withdrawal in January 2015 stating she never gave instructions for the suit to be filed in her name and had no conflict with her co-administrator. The 1st defendant's counsel alleged the 2nd defendant had paid counsel's firm three million shillings but provided no receipt to substantiate this claim.

Issues

1. Whether the 2nd defendant was ever a client of Counsel Wetaka such that his subsequently making her a defendant in a matter where she was plaintiff would prejudice her as defendant.

Orders

• Preliminary objection overruled with costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (4)

• Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations SI 267-2 r.4
• Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations SI 267-2 r.7
• Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations SI 267-2 r.10
• Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations SI 267-2 r.2(1)

Cases cited (1)

• Kabale Housing Estate Tenant's Association Ltd v Kabale Municipal Local Government (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 15 of 2013)

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.

• Agnes Nalwanga v Haruna Sentongo (Miscellaneous Application No. 917 of 2025)

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