Wakilii

Value Market Services Ltd v City Council of Kampala (Civil Suit No. 532 of 2007)

High Court · [2007] UGCOMMC 84 · 2007 Preliminary Objections Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ruling on preliminary objections in a first instance civil suit
Decision
First defendant remains in the suit; proceedings to continue. Second defendant dismissed from the suit.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the 1st defendant received sufficient statutory notice through its Acting City Advocate despite the notice being stamped received by the 2nd defendant's division, and the preliminary objection on this ground was overruled. However, the suit against the 2nd defendant was time barred under section 3 of the Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act as it was filed more than two years after the cause of action arose in 2002, and the plaintiff failed to plead the disability exception under section 5 in the amended plaint.

Outcome

First defendant remains in the suit; proceedings to continue. Second defendant dismissed from the suit.

Facts

On 5 September 2003 the plaintiff filed suit against City Council of Kampala. By court order dated 25 May 2007, an amended plaint was filed on 1 June 2007 adding City Council of Kampala Central Division as second defendant. The cause of action arose on 25 December 2002. A statutory notice dated 3 March 2003 was stamped received by Kampala Central Division Council Administration Section and was responded to by the Acting City Advocate of City Council of Kampala. Both defendants raised preliminary objections: that no statutory notice was served on the 1st defendant, and that the suit against the 2nd defendant was time barred. The original suit had been filed by different counsel who erroneously omitted the Division as defendant despite the statutory notice clearly naming it. Current counsel took over conduct on 10 January 2007 and subsequently obtained leave to amend.

Issues

  1. Whether the suit against the 1st defendant was competent in the absence of proper service of statutory notice on the Town Clerk of City Council of Kampala.
  2. Whether the suit against the 2nd defendant was time barred under section 3 of the Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

Orders

  • First preliminary objection overruled.
  • Second preliminary objection upheld.
  • Suit against the 2nd defendant dismissed with costs.
  • Suit against the 1st defendant to proceed to trial on merit.
  • Costs of the preliminary objections in the main suit against the 1st defendant.

Rules and key headnotes

Statutory Notice — Service on Local Authorities — Sufficiency
Where a statutory notice under section 2 of the Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act is received by one division of a local authority but is responded to by the legal department of the principal council, the principal council is deemed to have received sufficient notice where divisional services including legal services remain centrally controlled.
Limitation of Actions — Local Authorities — Tort and Contract
Under section 3 of the Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, no action founded on tort shall be brought against a local authority after the expiration of two years from the date on which the cause of action arose, and no action founded on contract after three years. Time limits set by statutes are matters of substantive law and must be strictly complied with.
Limitation — Disability Exception — Pleading Requirement
Where a plaintiff seeks to rely on the disability exception under section 5 of the Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act to overcome a limitation defence, the nature of the disability must be pleaded in the plaint. A suit which appears from the face of the plaint to be time barred must be rejected under Order 7 rule 1(d) of the Civil Procedure Rules even where a court has previously identified grounds for disability in an earlier application.
Local Government — Separate Legal Personality
Under sections 3(3) and 6 of the Local Government Act, a city council and its constituent divisions are separate corporate bodies which may sue or be sued in their respective names. The relevant officer to be served with statutory notice is the Town Clerk of each respective council.

Legislation cited (7)

Cases cited (5)

  • Gulu Municipal Council v Nyeko & Another (1996) HCB 66
  • Uganda Revenue Authority v Uganda (1997-2001) UCL 149
  • Attorney General v Obote Foundation (1994) KALR 47
  • Francis Nansio Michael v Nuwa Walakira (1991) VI KALR 14
  • H. J. Stanley & Sons Ltd v Said Narrow Zakor (1963) EA 565

Full judgment

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

Value Market Services Ltd v City Council of Kampala (Civil Suit No. 532 of 2007) [2007] UGCommC 84 (18 October 2007)
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.