Wakilii

Ssemugoma Noah and Others v National Water Sewerage Corporation [2026] UGHCLD 73

High Court · 2026 Suit Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for compensation and trespass called on for hearing; dismissed for non-appearance of the parties
Decision
Suit dismissed for non-appearance of the parties; no order as to costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where a suit is called on for hearing and neither party appears, the court may dismiss the suit under Order 9 Rule 17 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The plaintiffs had failed to appear on an earlier hearing date, and on the adjourned date, which had been entered and validated on ECCMIS, neither the plaintiffs nor the defendant appeared. The court accordingly dismissed the suit for non-appearance of the parties, without considering the merits of the claims for compensation for compulsory acquisition and trespass, and made no order as to costs.

Outcome

Suit dismissed for non-appearance of the parties; no order as to costs

Facts

The plaintiffs filed a plaint on 19 September 2019 alleging that the defendant had taken possession of and/or compulsorily acquired their land at Mutundwe II Village, Mutundwe Parish, Rubaga Division, Kampala District, without prior prompt, fair and adequate compensation. They sought declarations that this infringed their constitutional right to property and constituted trespass, an order for payment of UGX 182,102,700 as compensation for the value of the land and developments, special damages of UGX 3,000,000, general and exemplary damages, and costs. The suit was fixed for hearing on 21 October 2025, when only counsel for the defendant appeared and the plaintiffs did not. The matter was adjourned to 1 April 2026 at 9:00am, and the hearing date was entered and validated on the ECCMIS electronic case management system. On 1 April 2026 none of the parties appeared before the court.

Issues

  1. Whether the suit should be dismissed where neither party appeared on the date fixed for hearing.

Orders

  • The suit is hereby dismissed under Order 9, Rule 17 of the Civil Procedure Rules SI 71-1 for non-appearance of the Parties on the date when the suit was fixed for hearing.
  • There is no order for costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Non-Appearance of Parties at Hearing — Dismissal under Order 9 Rule 17 of the Civil Procedure Rules
Where neither party appears when a suit is called on for hearing on a date duly fixed and notified, the court may dismiss the suit under Order 9 Rule 17 of the Civil Procedure Rules without inquiring into the merits.

Legislation cited (3)

Full judgment

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

Ssemugoma Noah and Others v National Water Sewerage Corporation [2026] UGHCLD 73 (1 April 2026)
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.