The Grade One Magistrate’s Court of Moyo in the court hearing on 9th of May 2023 in a civil suit case registered by Drago Robert against Goliga Gersam and Moyo town council ruled out that Moyo Town Council did not have power to lawfully allocate land to Drago Robert. The Court ruled however that since Moyo Town Council duped Drago Robert into believing that it had powers to allocate the Land at Okudi Road near Dreams Club Moyo whereas it did not and went ahead and found Moyo Town Council to be liable for the losses suffered by Drago Robert.
The plaintiff claims started in the year 2014 which developed a lot of controversies between the 1st and the 2nd Defendants on the ownership of the land on which the plaintiff paid annual ground rent to Moyo Town Council and later placed a container on it.
Having ruled that Moyo Town Council, the 2nd Defendant in the case had no powers to allocate land to anybody, the Grade One Magistrate His Worship Padoko Gerald decreed, that the Town Council must pay Drago Robert Uganda Shillings UGX 3 million as general damages and UGX 12.19 million special damages for the value of the items which Goliga Gersam, the Public Health inspector lawfully removed from his land. The total money that Moyo Town Council must pay Drago Robert adds up to 15.19 million Ugandan shillings unless the Town Council opts to lodge an Appeal in the High court of Uganda at Arua within 30 days.
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Enen Ambrose a lawyer working with Messrs. (Mesas) Okurut Magara Associated Advocates who stood for Goliga Gersam expressed his gratitude for the Magistrate for delivering true justice to the parties in the case. Advocate Enen Ambrose says,
“ the judgment of the court reflected the true Legal Position that Town Councils in Uganda are no longer eligible to lawfully give or allocate land to people after the 1995 Constitution stripped them of such powers and gave it only to the District Land Boards across the Country.”
Upon this ruling, advocate Enen Ambrose appealed to the local authorities to stop misleading people that it can give them land whereas the law does not permit them to do so. He also made a clarion call to members of the public to seek legal guidance before acquiring land and to always know that it is only a District Land Board which has powers to allocate land that does not belong to any body in a District. The visibly elated lawyer who spoke to our reporter however warned that if land within a district is owned by a particular person, whoever wants to deal with that land must strictly transact with the known owner of the land as required by the laws on land acquisition especially the Constitution of Uganda, 1995 and the Land Act, 1998.
However, Moyo Town Council authorities expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment of the Court. The deputy town clerk reveals that through their lawyer they will appeal to the high court on the matter.
Goliga Gersam, the client of Lawer Enen Ambrose who won the case says,
“I already have a 49 years running lease since 2006 and developments on the land for close to eleven years before Moyo Town Council illegally grabbed it from me and gave it to Drago Robert”.
