Wakilii

Sickle Strong (UI) Ltd v Agnes Kimbugwe and Another (Miscellaneous Application 123 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 1252 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for stay of execution of decree pending hearing of application to set aside judgment
Decision
Application for stay of execution dismissed with costs to the respondents

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for stay of execution dismissed. The court held that the applicant failed to establish a prima facie case with likelihood of success because the lease agreement upon which it claimed interest was executed before the applicant company was incorporated, rendering it a nullity. Further, the lease was created by a person who was not the registered owner at the time, was not registered as required for foreign persons under the Land Act, and involved a premium grossly disproportionate to the land's value.

Outcome

Application for stay of execution dismissed with costs to the respondents

Facts

The applicant company claimed a leasehold interest in land comprised in Buruli Block 185 Plot 5 at Kiranga, based on a lease agreement dated 27 July 2017 with Moses Nsubuga. The respondents, as beneficiaries of the estate of Andereya Luwandaga, had obtained judgment in Civil Suit No. 9 of 2023 declaring that Moses Nsubuga fraudulently obtained registration of his interest in the suit land and ordering cancellation of his entry and eviction of current occupants. The applicant, not having been a party to that suit, filed an application to set aside the judgment and sought stay of execution pending determination of that application. The applicant claimed to have taken possession in August 2017 and invested USD 250,000 in developments including a solar coffee processor. The respondents opposed the stay application on grounds that the lease agreement was executed before the applicant company was incorporated on 5 October 2017, that the premium of UGX 1,000 was grossly inadequate, that the lease was not registered, and that Moses Nsubuga was not the registered owner when he purported to lease the land.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant has sufficient grounds for grant of an order of stay of execution.
  2. What remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Stay of Execution — Requirements for Grant
For an order of stay of execution to be granted, the applicant must establish that the appeal or application has a likelihood of success or a prima facie case, that the applicant will suffer irreparable damage or that the appeal will be rendered nugatory if stay is not granted, and if these are not established, the court must consider the application on balance of convenience.
Contract Law — Capacity to Contract — Non-Existent Legal Entity
A company incorporated on a particular date cannot validly enter into a contract executed before its date of incorporation, as a non-existent legal entity lacks capacity to contract.
Land & Property — Leases — Authority to Lease — Registration Requirement
A person who is neither the registered owner nor the administrator of an estate lacks authority to create a valid lease over land registered in the names of the estate's administrators, and such a lease confers no legal interest on the purported lessee.
Land & Property — Leases by Foreign Persons — Registration Requirement
Under section 41(2) of the Land Act, every lease by a foreign person that is over five years must be registered in accordance with the Registration of Titles Act, and failure to register such a lease means the foreign person acquires no legally recognisable interest in the land.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (6)

  • Theodore Ssekikuubo and Others v Attorney General and Another (Constitutional Appeal No. 6 of 2013)
  • Lawrence Musiitwa v Eunice Bueingye (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 18 of 1990)
  • Re Nakivubo Chemists (U) Ltd (1979 HCB 12)
  • Mohammed Alubhai v Bukenya Mukasa (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 56 of 1996)
  • Adonla v Mutekanda (1920) EA 429
  • Gapco Uganda Ltd v Kaweesa and Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 259 of 2013)

Full judgment

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

Sickle Strong (UI) Ltd v Agnes Kimbugwe and Another (Miscellaneous Application 123 of 2025) [2025] UGHC 1252 (27 May 2025)
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.