LandMark Judgement: Makerere University Ordered To Pay Costs As Court Throw Out Case Against City Pastor

Court has thrown out a case in which Makerere University had sought for orders to evict city Pastor Daniel Walugembe from land at Katanga near Wandegeya in Kampala.

 Makerere had filed a case against Pastor Walugembe and Abdu Ssekajja seeking for a court declaration that there is no kibanja interest on the land located in Katanga.

However, Justice Samuel Emokor of the lands Division of the High Court declares that Makerere university is abusing court process by filing two Court cases against pastor Walugembe and Ssekajja in his Court and in the Court of Appeal where is challenging Justice Owiny Dollo’s landmark judgement which confirms that tenants on Katanga valley land are bonafide

“The Respondent in my considered opinion appears to be fishing in two fronts, before the Court of Appeal and before this Court with the hope of succeeding in at least one of them.  This is because the orders obtain in the favour of the Respondent in any of the two Courts would have the same net effect of granting the Respondent possession of the suit property” the judge stated

The judge further punishes the university by directing them to pay costs of the suit to Walugemba and Ssekajja after establishing that the matter before him was an abuse of a Court process and res judicata

He stated that it would cause an absurdity for his Court to reach one finding regarding the status of Walugembe and Ssekajja on the said land and the Court of Appeal also reaches a different position regarding their predecessors

He insists that his Court is bound to avoid scenarios that may lead to contradictory orders being issued which would bring the reputation of the judiciary in bad light

“ It would appear to this Court that any attempt to inquiry into the nature of and acquisition of proprietary rights of the Applicants on the suit property would ultimately lead this Court into investigating status of the Applicants predecessors who have already been declared by this Court to have been bonafide occupants of the suit property together with their licensees, which finding the Respondent does not agree with it and is challenging on appeal” he stated

Brian Kupper Rubihayo, the lawyer representing  Walugembe, welcomed the court decision saying that his client won the case and therefore cannot be evicted.

We filed an application and asked the court to dismiss the Makerere University case citing abuse of court process, meaning that Makerere was pushing two cases at the same time. The case which has just been dismissed and the appeal which they been filed in the court of appeal

The case contained issues which were already determined by the High Court in the case which was decided by Justice Owiny Dollo in 2015 and the court agreed with us that the matters relating to whether there exists a kibanja on land located in Katanga Valley was determined previously, therefore it is res judicata.

Makerere’s case before the land division was an abuse of court process because it is a pending appeal that was filed prior in the court of appeal.