Shakti Sugar Limited and CN Sugar Limited have filed a notice of appeal and an application seeking an interim stay of execution in the High Court.
The companies are suing the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA) Ltd.
According to court documents, Shakti Sugar Limited and CN Sugar Limited are seeking an interim order to stay the execution of a ruling delivered on January 20, 2025, by High Court Judge Dr. Douglas Singiza.
The ruling directed the Inspector General of Police to remove the companies’ sugar and jaggery mills, along with related enterprises, from land situated at Nalyamabidde Village, Bubajjwe Parish in Kayunga District, and Namayingo District, respectively.
In their applications filed on Monday in the High Court, the companies argue that the ruling is self-executing.
It also directs the Inspector General of Police to implement the orders, which include dismantling and removing the companies’ machinery and jaggery mill within 14 days.
Shakti Sugar Limited and CN Sugar Limited claim that this would be detrimental to their investments in Uganda.
Both companies have filed a substantive application, which is pending before the High Court.
However, they are concerned that the order to evict them within 14 days is already in existence, and it is unlikely that their application will be heard and disposed of within the next 11 days.
The managing director of Shakti Sugar Limited, Patel Ravikumar Ramanlal, has sworn an affidavit in support of the application for an interim stay.
He argues that the court’s decision to move the companies from their location is a total disregard of their constitutional right to own property, as they have certificates of title to the land housing the sugar mills and nuclei.
The companies, which filed separate applications, are yet to be fixed for a hearing.
The ruling that Shakti Sugar Limited and CN Sugar Limited are protesting is based on a petition filed by the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA) against the Attorney General, the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, CN Sugar Limited, and Shakti Sugar Limited.
The court found that the Ministry of Trade’s failure to establish the Uganda Sugar Board (USB) was a breach of statutory duty, as required by Section 4 of the Sugar Act.
The court declared that the establishment of CN and Shakti sugar and jaggery mills within a 25-kilometer radius of other existing sugar and jaggery mills was contrary to government policy on sugar, as amplified by presidential guidance on the zoning of sugar business enterprises.
It also found that the Ministry of Trade had granted licenses to CN Sugar Limited and Shakti Sugar Limited without following the required procedures.
The court issued an order of certiorari canceling all purported new sugar licenses or permissions, in the form of Letters of No Objection (LONOs), that had been granted to CN Sugar Limited and Shakti Sugar Limited.
The companies were also ordered to immediately halt all their sugar and jaggery mills until they are duly licensed by an authorized body.
The Inspector General of Police was ordered to immediately remove all of CN Sugar Limited’s and Shakti Sugar Limited’s sugar and jaggery mills and related enterprises from the prohibited zones outlined in Section 19 of the Sugar Act within 14 days from the delivery of the ruling.
Shakti Sugar Limited is represented by Joseph Kiryowa & Co. Advocates and Alto Advocates, while CN Sugar Limited is represented by Victoria Advocates and Legal Consultants.
English 