The High Court in Kampala has dismissed a land case filed by Makerere University over disputed land in Katanga Valley, ruling that the matter had already been conclusively determined by court and could not be litigated again.
In a ruling delivered on June 4, Justice Samuel Emokor struck out Civil Suit No. 1051 of 2021, in which the university had sued Daniel Walugembe and Abdu Ssekajja over approximately 5.13 acres of land in Katanga Valley near Wandegeya.
The judge held that the case was barred by the doctrine of res judicata, a legal principle that prevents courts from rehearing matters already decided by a competent court.
“The instant application succeeds with orders issuing that HCCS No. 1051 of 2021 is res judicata and an abuse of court process,” Justice Emokor ruled.
The court also awarded costs of both the application and the main suit to the applicants, Walugembe and Ssekajja.
At the center of the dispute is land formerly described as FRV 59 Folio 21 in Katanga Valley, which has been the subject of multiple court battles spanning more than two decades.
Makerere University had argued that the two men illegally occupied and developed the land while falsely claiming kibanja interests under a consent judgment obtained in another case. The university sought declarations that no kibanja existed on the land, demolition of structures erected there, and eviction orders against the occupants.
However, the defendants maintained that their interests stemmed from occupants who had previously been declared bona fide occupants by court in an earlier landmark case, Civil Suit No. 857 of 2000.
That earlier suit involved Jonathan Masembe, Bulasio Buyise, G. Kagimu and Samalie Namboga against Makerere University, the Attorney General and the Registrar of Titles.
In a judgment delivered in 2015, the High Court held that although Makerere University was the lawful registered proprietor of the land, the plaintiffs and their licensees were bona fide occupants entitled to remain in possession.
Walugembe argued that he later acquired equitable interests in the same land from some of those occupants through a consent judgment entered in Civil Suit No. 699 of 2017.
The university, however, rejected those claims, insisting that the current dispute involved new issues that had never been determined in previous litigation. It also argued that the consent judgment relied upon by Walugembe could not legally create kibanja interests on Makerere land without the institution’s consent.
Justice Emokor disagreed.
The judge found that despite changes in registration descriptions over time, the disputed land remained traceable to the same Katanga Valley property litigated in the earlier cases.
“This court takes judicial notice of the fact that registration numbers of plots or pieces of land are prone to change over time either due to mutations or cancellations of titles etc. The land though does not shift or change location,” the ruling stated.
The court further observed that the university had failed to sufficiently prove that the land in the current suit was different from the property already litigated in previous proceedings.
Justice Emokor also noted that Makerere University already has a pending appeal before the Court of Appeal challenging the 2015 decision that recognized the occupants and their licensees as bona fide occupants.
According to the judge, pursuing a fresh case in the High Court while simultaneously challenging the earlier decision in the Court of Appeal amounted to an abuse of court process.
“The Respondent appears to be fishing on two fronts; before the Court of Appeal and before this court with the hope of succeeding in at least one of them,” the judge ruled.
He warned that allowing the fresh suit to proceed risked producing contradictory court decisions on the same land and parties.
The ruling is likely to have significant implications for the long-running disputes surrounding Katanga Valley land, where questions of ownership, occupancy rights and kibanja interests have repeatedly generated litigation involving residents, landlords and institutions.
It also reinforces judicial caution against repetitive litigation, especially where appellate proceedings on the same issues remain pending.
The Court of Appeal is yet to determine Makerere University’s appeal challenging the 2015 ruling on the status of occupants in Katanga Valley.
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