Tusubira Steven v Iganga Town Council & Ors (MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 10 OF 2008) (MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 10 OF 2008)

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

The High Court granted leave to apply for judicial review where town councillors attempted to impeach and remove a town clerk without serving him notice or a copy of the petition. The court found a prima facie case of breach of natural justice under Article 28 of the Constitution and potential procedural defects in the petition under the Local Governments Act.

Outcome

Leave granted to proceed with judicial review application

Facts

The applicant was the Town Clerk of Iganga Town Council, unlawfully removed in 2003 but reinstated by the Inspector General of Government in May 2007. On 13 August 2008, councillors presented a petition to the council speaker seeking to impeach the applicant for abuse of office, incompetence and misconduct. The petition was presented while the applicant was away on study leave at the Law Development Centre. The applicant was never served with a copy of the petition, which was scheduled to be heard on 18 September 2008. The applicant contended the petition was defective because it was not signed by a 2/3 majority of the council as required by the Local Governments Act, contravened procedural rules, and was lodged by a suspended councillor. The petition was allegedly based on internal audit reports not yet considered by the Public Accounts Committee.

Issues

1. Whether the applicant has established a prima facie case warranting leave to apply for judicial review.
2. Whether the petition for removal of the applicant was procedurally defective and in breach of natural justice.

Orders

• Leave granted to bring an application for judicial review.
• Application for judicial review to be filed within 14 days from the date of this order.
• Costs of this application to abide the main application for judicial review.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (6)

• Judicature Act s.33
• Judicature Act s.36
• Judicature Act s.38(1)
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 46A
• Local Governments Act s.68(1)
• Constitution of Uganda art.28

Cases cited (2)

• Kikonda Butema Farmers Ltd v Inspector General of Government (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 35 of 2002)
• Professor Francis Omaswa & Dr Catherine Omaswa (Miscellaneous Application No. 179 of 2006)

Cases citing this judgment (2)

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.

• Kayemba v Ssenfuma & Another (Civil Appeal No. 20 of 2013)
• Kayemba Kiiza v Ssenfuma and Another (Civil Appeal 20 of 2013)

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