By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Last week on Friday, the High Court in Kampala trashed National Information Technology Authority (NITA) Uganda land case it had filed against Uganda Investment Authority (UIA).
Based on the court documents, NITA-U had rushed to court seeking an order of certiorari to be issued quashing UIA’s decision of giving out the land located on volume mkO1176, folio 11, plot No. 1230, Kyaggwe Block 113, Namanve, Mukono District to a diary company known as Rainbow Diary Uganda Ltd yet it was already under a lease agreement between NITA-U (Applicant) and UIA (1st Respondent).
Court documents further reveal that NITA-U wanted a permanent injunction to be issued against the 2nd respondent (Rainbow Diary Company), its contractors, agents and/or servants preventing them from trespassing, selling, transferring, alienating, and making any developments on or in any other way dealing with the land on the said land.
However, Justice Musa Ssekaana trashed the case saying it was not a proper case for judicial review based on the facts and it is purely a private law matter premised on the lease agreements executed between the parties.
”Lease agreement made on 2nd October 2020 between the 1st respondent and 2nd respondent squarely puts the dispute of the applicant in the realm of private law that ought to be determined under land law and indeed may involve the cancellation of title which this court can not grant in the present application,” said Ssekana.
In the same vein, Sssekaana observed that the duo party’s transactions were purely contractual and based on the private law rights that are derived from the said agreements.
He noted, “Contractual obligations should not be enforced by judicial review unless the question is whether the contracting authority has exceeded its powers. As soon as a lease agreement is executed between the parties, they are bound by the terms of the lease agreement. This application is dismissed with no order as to costs.”
