Wakilii

Thummar Agro and Farm Limited and Victoria Sugar Limited v Kafirigi Richard and Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 162 of 2024)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 847 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to dismiss plaint and reject suit arising out of civil suit alleging fraud in land transactions
Decision
Application dismissed with costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court dismissed the application with costs. It held that an affidavit in support of a notice of motion is evidence, not a pleading, and therefore does not require the deponent to be a principal officer of the company—anyone with knowledge of the facts may swear it. Beneficiaries of an estate have locus standi to sue to protect the estate before Letters of Administration are granted; where letters exist, only the administrator may sue. The failure to attach Letters of Administration to the plaint was cured by subsequent production. The plaint disclosed a cause of action as the respondents alleged a right in land that was violated by the applicants through fraudulent dealings.

Outcome

Application dismissed with costs

Facts

The applicants sought to dismiss Civil Suit No. 166 of 2023 in which the respondents, as beneficiaries and one as administrator of deceased estates, claimed an interest in land originally registered to their deceased relatives. The respondents alleged that the land was fraudulently transferred to one Mujjukizi Bukenya Daniel through forged signatures and false Letters of Administration, and that Mujjukizi then illegally converted the land from leasehold to freehold and sold it to the applicants despite notice of the fraud. The applicants raised a preliminary objection that the affidavit in support was defective because it was sworn by an administrator of the second applicant company who was not a principal officer, and on the merits argued that the respondents lacked locus standi and that the plaint disclosed no cause of action.

Issues

  1. Whether an affidavit sworn by a person who is an administrator but not a principal officer of a company is defective and renders an application incompetent.
  2. Whether beneficiaries of an estate have locus standi to institute legal proceedings to protect the estate before obtaining Letters of Administration.
  3. Whether a plaintiff suing as administrator who fails to attach Letters of Administration to the plaint lacks locus standi.
  4. Whether the plaint discloses a cause of action against the applicants.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the Respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Affidavit Evidence — Who May Swear Affidavit for Corporation — Distinction Between Pleadings and Evidence
An affidavit in support of a notice of motion is evidence in proof of matters pleaded, not a pleading; it may be sworn by any person with knowledge of the facts, and need not be sworn by a principal officer of a company as required for pleadings under Order 29 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Definition and Scope — Affidavit Not a Pleading
A pleading includes petitions, plaints, written statements of defence, notices of motion, and other formal documents stating claims or defences, but does not include affidavits, which are evidence and not pleadings strict sensu.
Succession & Estates — Locus Standi — Beneficiaries Suing Before Grant of Letters of Administration
Before Letters of Administration are granted, a beneficiary of an estate of a person who died intestate has locus standi to sue to defend his or her interest in the estate and to protect the estate from being wasted without first obtaining Letters of Administration.
Succession & Estates — Locus Standi — Effect of Grant of Letters of Administration on Beneficiaries' Rights to Sue
Once Letters of Administration have been granted, beneficiaries cease to have locus standi to institute any suit against a third party to protect their interest or preserve the estate, as all property vests in the administrator under Section 176 of the Succession Act and no person other than the administrator may sue or prosecute any suit as representative of the deceased under Section 261.
Succession & Estates — Letters of Administration — Proof of Capacity — Belated Production in Affidavit in Reply
Where a plaintiff suing as administrator fails to attach Letters of Administration to the plaint, the subsequent production of the letters in an affidavit in reply may cure the defect as it establishes prima facie proof of capacity to sue, the purpose of the locus standi enquiry having been fulfilled.
Succession & Estates — Letters of Administration — Validity — Expiry After Institution of Suit — Assessment at Date of Institution
Locus standi is determined on the basis of the plaintiff's pleadings and is assessed as at the date of institution of the suit; the subsequent expiry of Letters of Administration does not deprive the plaintiff of locus standi where the letters were valid and subsisting at the date the suit was filed.
Civil Procedure — Cause of Action — What Constitutes — Plaintiff's Right, Violation, and Defendant's Role
For a plaint to disclose a cause of action it must show that the plaintiff enjoyed a right, that the right was violated, and that it is the defendant who violated the right.

Legislation cited (10)

Cases cited (13)

  • MHK Engineering Services Ltd v Macdowell Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 825 of 2018)
  • Pearl Diary Farms Limited v Scanad Uganda Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 273 of 2023)
  • Jethro Jones Opollot and Others v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Application No. 687 of 2021)
  • DFCU Bank Ltd v Donna Kamuli (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 121 of 2016)
  • Ssebina David and Others v Pearl Development Group and Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 151 of 2023)
  • Yoakim Mwene Habyene v Attorney General (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1996)
  • Bankone Limited v Simbamanyo Estates Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 645 of 2020)
  • Israel Kabwa v Martin Banoba Musiga (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 52 of 1995)
  • Leonard Mubiru and 3 Others v Israel Lwanga and Another (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 78 of 2016)
  • Mukisa Biscuits v West End Distributors (1969) EA 696
  • Dima Domnic Poro v Inyani and Another (Civil Appeal No. 17 of 2016)
  • Onen and 3 Others v Oryem and 3 Others (Civil Suit No. 39 of 2010)
  • Auto Garage v Motokov No.3 [1971] EA 514

Full judgment

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

Thummar Agro and Farm Limited and Victoria Sugar Limited v Kafirigi Richard and Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 162 of 2024) [2025] UGHC 847 (9
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.