You cannot institute case to recover land after 12 years, court rules

Court has ruled that a litigant cannot institute legal proceedings to recover land after 12 years following government acquisition of the land.

Justice Bernard Namanya of the High Court, Land Division in Kampala, in his decision, said Section 5 of the Limitation Act, states that no legal action shall be brought by any person to recover land after the expiration of 12 years from the date on which the right of action accrued to him or her.

The decision was prompted by a case in which Ms Joanita Nyanzi, the administrator of the estate of the late Semei Nyanzi (plaintiff), had sued the Attorney General and former Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa. 

She was seeking recovery of land on plot No.19, Akii-Bua Road formerly known as plot No.19 Stanley Road.

“The plaintiff’s cause of action either for compensation and or for recovery of land arose in 1984 when the government compulsorily acquired the suit land. The plaintiff waited for 31 years to bring the instant case, rendering the case time-barred under the law,” ruled Justice Namanya.

Court heard that Ms Nyanzi had alleged that the land in question became the subject of a forced government acquisition in 1984 when Semei was in exile in the United Kingdom where he died.

The judge said according to the Uganda Gazette Notice of July 11, 1984, the land was compulsorily acquired by the government for state use.

He further explained that the gazette notice was issued under the hand of the late then Minister of Lands, Minerals and Water Resources, Max Choudry.

Mr George Kalemera, a commissioner from the AG’s chambers, argued that the case’s cause of action arose in 1984 and yet the suit was filed in 2015, which was far beyond the recommended 12 years for one to institute a law suit.