Court halts eviction of businesses at Makerere
Some of the businesses that face closure at Makerere, according to a July 1 eviction notice from the university management. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- They also want court to quash the University Council resolution on account of allegedly being irrational.
The High Court in Kampala has issued an interim order blocking Makerere University from evicting business owners operating from within its premises until determination of their case challenging the move.
In his ruling yesterday, Justice Boniface Wamala cited the need to consider the merits of the pending case.
“An interim order of injunction doth issue maintaining the status quo of the business activities at the premises of the respondent (Makerere University) and restraining the respondent’s agents from implementing the eviction of the applicant’s members pending determination of the main application,” Justice Wamala ordered.
The court’s decision followed an application in which Makerere Business Owners’ Association Limited sought to stop the eviction process.
Justice Wamala said there is undisputed evidence that the association members have been operating various businesses from within the university premises.
“The applicant has established that there is a need for preservation of the status quo, which is that the applicant’s members are still in occupation of the business premises. The applicant has further established that there is a pending main application for a temporary injunction with a likelihood of success,” the judge held.
The traders want court to declare that the decision of the institution to evict them without being given a fair hearing illegal and tainted with procedural impropriety.
They also want court to quash the University Council resolution on account of allegedly being irrational.
The genesis
On July 4, the business owners received a circular stating that the University Council had taken a decision to terminate all business activities at the campus starting on July 1.
In a sworn statement, Mr Julius Gumisiriza, one of the complainants, stated that the decision was based on the findings that numerous business activities that operate from within Makerere do not relate to the institution’s core functions.
He said the university purports that some businesses operate in non-designated spaces, which is not true and that it does not permit the institution to take a decision that affects their source of livelihood without a hearing.
