Wakilii

Walakira v Ssengendo & Ors (Civil Suit No. 152 of 2018)

High Court · [2019] UGHCFD 25 · 2019 Preliminary Objection Upheld — Suit Struck Out AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for declaration of ownership and vesting order dismissed on preliminary objection
Decision
Suit struck out and dismissed with costs to defendants

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the plaint disclosed no cause of action against the 1st and 2nd defendants because they were not administrators of the estate as they held no letters of administration, and they were not parties to the land sale transaction from which the plaintiff claimed rights. A cause of action requires that the plaintiff show a right enjoyed, a violation of that right, and the defendant's liability. The plaintiff purchased land from the deceased's daughters, not from the estate, and established no legal connection between the purported administrators and the sale to ground a claim.

Outcome

Suit struck out and dismissed with costs to defendants

Facts

The plaintiff instituted suit seeking a declaration that he was the rightful owner of land comprised in Block 367 Plot 59 Musale Mpogo, and orders directing the 1st and 2nd defendants to hand over the duplicate Certificate of Title to enable his registration as proprietor. The plaintiff sued the 1st and 2nd defendants in their alleged capacity as administrators of the estate of the late Nambi Veronica. The plaintiff attached a letter from the Administrator General's office calling the 1st defendant to a family meeting and an attendance list, which he referred to as a certificate of no objection. However, the plaintiff did not produce letters of administration evidencing that the 1st and 2nd defendants were duly appointed administrators. The plaintiff pleaded that he purchased the suit land from the three daughters of the deceased Nambi Veronica, not from the estate itself. The daughters were also deceased. At the commencement of the hearing, the 1st and 2nd defendants raised a preliminary objection that the plaint disclosed no cause of action against them under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaint discloses a cause of action against the 1st and 2nd defendants?

Orders

  • The plaint discloses no cause of action against the 1st and 2nd defendants, Mr. Ssengendo Lubwama Isaac and Ms. Zawedde Lydia and is hereby struck out.
  • The claim against the 3rd defendant which is solely hinged on the existence of a cause of action against the 1st and 2nd defendant is dismissed.
  • The suit is dismissed with costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Preliminary Objection — Disclosure of Cause of Action — Elements Required
In determining whether a plaint discloses a cause of action, the court must look only at the plaint and its annexures and nowhere else. A cause of action is disclosed where the plaint shows that the plaintiff enjoyed a right, that the right has been violated, and that the defendant is liable.
Administration — Legal Representative — Proof of Capacity
Under Section 180 of the Succession Act, the administrator of a deceased person is his or her legal representative for all purposes and all property of the deceased vests in him or her as such. Ownership of the property of the deceased vests in the one being appointed administrator or executor through grant of letters of administration or probate, and a party who sues alleged administrators must produce letters of administration to support the claim that they hold that capacity.
Cause of Action — Lack of Privity — No Legal Connection Between Defendant and Transaction
Where a plaintiff sues defendants alleging they are administrators of an estate but the plaintiff purchased property not from the estate but from third parties (the deceased's daughters), and no legal connection is established between the defendants and the sale transaction, no cause of action is disclosed against the defendants.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (4)

  • Kapeka Coffee Works Ltd v NPART (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 3 of 2000)
  • Tororo Cement Co Ltd v Frokina International Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 2 of 2001)
  • Auto Garage v Motokov (1971) EA 514
  • Maureen Tumusiime v Macario and Another [2006] 1 HCB 127

Full judgment

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

Walakira v Ssengendo & Ors (Civil Suit No. 152 of 2018) [2019] UGHCFD 25 (11 September 2019)
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.