Wakilii

Walugembe Daniel and Another v Makerere University (Miscellaneous Application No. 1778 of 2025)

High Court · [2026] UGHCLD 202 · 2026 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to strike out civil suit on grounds of res judicata and abuse of court process, arising from Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021
Decision
Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021 struck out

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court held that Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021 was barred by res judicata, as the subject matter had been fully determined in HCCS No. 0857 of 2000, where the applicants' predecessors were declared bona fide occupants. The applicants derived their interests from those predecessors through HCCS No. 0699 of 2017. The court further held that the suit constituted an abuse of court process, as the respondent was simultaneously challenging the same issues on appeal before the Court of Appeal in Civil Appeal No. 213 of 2015.

Outcome

Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021 struck out

Facts

The applicants sought to strike out Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021, in which Makerere University (respondent) claimed they were trespassing on 5.13 acres of university land. The applicants argued they derived their interests as bona fide occupants from plaintiffs in HCCS No. 0857 of 2000, who had been declared bona fide occupants of land comprised in FRV 59 Folio 21 at Katanga Valley. The first applicant's interests were confirmed in a consent judgment in HCCS No. 0699 of 2017, where he was declared a bona fide occupant of a 15-acre kibanja in Busia and Kimwanyi Zone, Katanga Valley. Makerere University had appealed the judgment in HCCS No. 0857 of 2000 to the Court of Appeal (Civil Appeal No. 213 of 2015), which remained pending. The applicants contended that the current suit sought to re-litigate matters already determined and constituted an abuse of process.

Issues

  1. Whether Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021 is barred by the doctrine of res judicata.
  2. Whether Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021 is an abuse of court process.

Orders

  • Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021 is struck out as res judicata and an abuse of court process.
  • Costs of the application and the main suit awarded to the applicants.

Rules and key headnotes

Res Judicata — Essential Elements — Same Parties or Privies
For the doctrine of res judicata to apply, there must be a former suit between the same parties or their privies, the matter must have been heard and finally determined by a court of competent jurisdiction on its merits, and the fresh suit must concern the same subject as the previous suit.
Res Judicata — Privies — Successors in Title
The phrase 'same parties' in Section 7 of the Civil Procedure Act is expansive and covers parties under whom the current parties claim under the same title. Where applicants derive their interests from plaintiffs in a former suit who were declared bona fide occupants, they are privies to those plaintiffs for purposes of res judicata.
Res Judicata — Same Subject Matter — Land Identification
Where land registration numbers change over time due to mutations or cancellations but the land remains in the same location, and the description consistently refers to the same geographical area (such as Katanga Valley), the subject matter is the same for purposes of res judicata.
Abuse of Court Process — Concurrent Proceedings — Pending Appeal
It constitutes an abuse of court process for a party to institute fresh proceedings in the High Court seeking to challenge findings in a judgment while simultaneously appealing those same findings to the Court of Appeal, as this exposes the courts to the danger of arriving at conflicting decisions on the same facts.
Bona Fide Occupancy — Successors in Interest — Transfer of Rights
Where a court declares plaintiffs and their licensees to be bona fide occupants of land entitled to continue in possession, persons who subsequently acquire equitable interests from those plaintiffs derive their status as bona fide occupants through their predecessors in title.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (7)

  • Fr. Narsensio Begumisa and 3 Others v Eric Tibebaga (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 17 of 2002)
  • Gantra v Gantra [2007] 1 EA 76
  • Springs International Hotel Ltd v Hotel Diplomat Ltd (High Court Civil Suit No. 227 of 2011)
  • Hassan Segawa Kambuga and Others v Pastor Daniel Walugembe (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 434 of 2019)
  • Jonathan Masembe and Others v Makerere University and 2 Others (High Court Civil Suit No. 0857 of 2000)
  • Pastor Daniel Walugembe v Bulasio Buyiso and 4 Others (High Court Civil Suit No. 0699 of 2017)
  • Makerere University v Jonathan Masembe and 3 Others (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 213 of 2015)

Full judgment

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

Walugembe Daniel and Another v Makerere University (Miscellaneous Application No. 1778 of 2025) [2026] UGHCLD 202 (4 June 2026)
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.