Wakilii

Tumwine v Mujuni & Another (Originating Summons 2 of 2018)

High Court · [2024] UGHC 672 · 2024 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by originating summons seeking court direction for issuance of certificate of no objection and accounting by alleged intermeddler
Decision
Application dismissed; applicant advised to pursue matter by formal suit

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Court dismissed the application, holding that the matters raised required a full hearing with witnesses rather than determination by originating summons. The applicant failed to show that a citation had been issued against the surviving widows as required by the Succession Act before other relatives could be appointed administrators. The court cannot order the Administrator General to favour particular beneficiaries over others including widows without proper procedure.

Outcome

Application dismissed; applicant advised to pursue matter by formal suit

Facts

Tumwine Asaph, a beneficiary of the estate of Sezi Rwampunu who died around 1980, filed an application seeking court direction for the Administrator General to issue a certificate of no objection to him and Joseph Mugume as administrators of the estate. The deceased was survived by three widows and sixteen children. A file had been opened with the Administrator General in 2009. The applicant alleged that the 1st respondent, Mujuni Stender, had engineered family disagreements in all family meetings and assumed office of administrator without lawful authority. The Administrator General deposed that on several occasions she had conducted mediation meetings with the family but they failed to agree on who should be granted a certificate of no objection. The Administrator General also engaged local government and police authorities to mediate but the parties still failed to agree.

Issues

  1. Whether the court should order the Administrator General to disregard the 1st Respondent's blockage of family meetings and issue a certificate of no objection to the Applicant and Joseph Mugume.
  2. Whether the court should order the 1st Respondent to account for revenue collected from the estate during alleged intermeddling.
  3. Whether originating summons was the appropriate procedure for this application.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.
  • Applicant advised to pursue the matter by formal suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Originating Summons — Appropriate Procedure — When Suitable
The procedure of originating summons is intended for simple and non-complex matters where there is no substantial dispute as to facts but rather on legal consequences of the set facts, and is normally suitable where the main point at issue is one of construction of a document or statute or is one of pure law.
Succession & Estates — Administrator General — Certificate of No Objection — Statutory Duty to Issue
A statutory duty is imposed upon the Administrator General by Section 5 of the Administrator General's Act to issue certificates of no objection to intending applicants for grants of probate or administration, except for widows or widowers of the deceased or executors in a will, upon proof that the Administrator General has declined to administer the estate or proof of having given fourteen days' written notice of the intention to apply for the grant.
Succession & Estates — Letters of Administration — Grant of — Order of Priority
Subject to Section 4 of the Administrator General's Act, administration shall be granted to the person entitled to the greatest portion of the estate in priority to all other relatives of the deceased, and under Section 27 of the Succession Act a widow or widower is entitled to the greatest portion of the estate of a deceased person who has died intestate and would in the first instance therefore be entitled to a grant of letters of administration.
Succession & Estates — Letters of Administration — Citation — Requirement Before Passing Over Entitled Relative
Under Section 203 of the Succession Act, administration shall not be granted to any relative if there is some other relative or an appointed heir entitled to a greater portion of the estate until a citation has been issued and published calling on that relative or heir to accept or refuse letters of administration.
Succession & Estates — Letters of Administration — Court's Discretion — Peculiar Circumstances of the Case
Under Section 4(5)(a) of the Administrator General's Act, the court may when the peculiar circumstances of the case appear to it so to require, for reasons recorded in its proceedings, of its own motion or otherwise, after having heard the Administrator General, grant letters of administration to any other person even though there are persons who in the ordinary course would be legally entitled to administer.

Legislation cited (9)

Cases cited (6)

  • Zalwango Eliverson and Another v Dorothy Walusimbi and Another (Originating Summons No. 3 of 2013)
  • Kaggwa and Others v Yowana Kiwanuka [1993] 3 KALR 17
  • Kulusumbai v Abdul Hussein [1975] EA 708
  • E Nakabugo v Francis Drake Serunjogi [1981] HCB 58
  • Bulasio Konde v Bulandina Nankya and Another (Civil Appeal No. 7 of 1980)
  • Administrator General v Akello Joyce Otti & Donato Otti (Civil Appeal No. 15 of 1993)

Full judgment

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

Tumwine v Mujuni & Another (Originating Summons 2 of 2018) [2024] UGHC 672 (12 July 2024)
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.