Ssetuba Misairi v Registrar of Titles (Miscellaneous Cause No. 55 of 2011)

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 where persons have been convicted in criminal proceedings of forging judicial documents and obtaining registration by false pretences, the court has jurisdiction under section 177 of the Registration of Titles Act to order cancellation of the fraudulently obtained certificate of title and registration of the lawful proprietor. An order stemming from a criminal case can form a basis for a consequential order directing the Registrar to cancel the fraudulent certificate and substitute the proper entry.

Outcome

Fraudulent certificate of title cancelled and applicant registered as proprietor in his capacity as administrator of the deceased estate

Facts

The applicant was the administrator of the estate of the late Erieza Kyakwambala, holding powers of attorney from the Administrator General. The estate included land comprised in Buruuli Block 109 plot 3 at Kisule. On 25 June 1998, four individuals—Sendagire Moses, Wajja Peter, Sserwadda John, and Emanuel Kaggwa—fraudulently procured registration and obtained a certificate of title to the land under instrument no. BUK 54323, relying on forged letters of administration. The applicant reported the matter to police. Two of the fraudsters went into hiding. The Chief Magistrate's Court of Luwero in Criminal Case No. 378 of 2009 convicted Sendagire Moses and Wajja Peter of forging a judicial document contrary to section 349 of the Penal Code Act and obtaining registration by false pretences contrary to section 312 of the Penal Code Act. The applicant then applied to the High Court for consequential orders cancelling the fraudulent title and registering him as proprietor.

Issues

1. Whether the court should order cancellation and deregistration of the fraudulently obtained certificate of title on land comprised in Buruuli Block 109 plot 3 at Kisule.
2. Whether the applicant as administrator of the estate should be registered as proprietor of the land following the criminal conviction of those who obtained registration through forgery.

Orders

• The Respondent should cancel and deregister from the certificate of land title of land comprised in Buruuli Block 109 plot 3 at Kisule in the names of Sendagire Moses, Wajja Peter, Serwada John and Kagwa Emmanuel.
• The Respondent should register the Applicant as the proprietor of the said land in his capacity as administrator of the estate of the late Eryeza Kyakwambala.
• The Applicant will meet the costs of this application.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (8)

• Registration of Titles Act s.177
• Registration of Titles Act s.178
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 48 r.1
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 48 r.2
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 9 r.11(2)
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 9 r.10
• Penal Code Act s.349
• Penal Code Act s.312

Cases cited (6)

• Kubibaire v Kakwenzire [1977] HCB 37
• Agard Didi v James Namakajjo (HCCS No. 1230 of 1998)
• Tindimwebwa Narisi v Mutebi Salim (HCT-00-CV-0057-2007)
• Samwiri Massa v Rose Achieng [1978] HCB 297
• Re Ivan Mutaka [1981] HCB 28
• Re Habib Lubwama [1991] HCB 74

Cases citing this judgment (3)

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.

• Okwera Charles v Kibirige Kasule Ronald and Others (Miscellaneous Application 235 of 2025)
• Arthur Bunya Kironde and Others v Commissioner Land Registration and Senkasi George (HCT-17-CV-MC- 004 - 2022)
• Patrick Katungi v Lubega Twaha Yiga (Miscellaneous Cause 37 of 2017)

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