The High Court in Kampala has dismissed a judicial review application challenging the distribution of heifers under a government youth empowerment programme implemented by the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS). The case was filed by Kisoro District Youth Council Chairperson John Bosco Tuyizere, who had accused NAADS and the National Youth Council of irregularly distributing heifers meant for youth leaders under a presidential directive aimed at improving household incomes and food security.
In a ruling delivered on Monday through the Judiciary’s Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS), Civil Division Acting Judge Simon Peter Kinobe dismissed the application and ordered the applicant to pay costs to the respondents. The court heard that around 2021, President Yoweri Museveni pledged to support youth leaders across the country with heifers, leading to a programme in which NAADS reportedly received funding to procure and distribute 2,286 animals to youth leaders at district, city, municipal, and division levels.
Tuyizere alleged that the heifers were diverted to non-target beneficiaries, including employees, Members of Parliament, UPDF officers, and other individuals he described as ghost beneficiaries. He also claimed he was removed from the beneficiaries’ list after raising concerns about the alleged irregularities. He asked the court to declare the distribution illegal and compel NAADS and the National Youth Council to recover allegedly misallocated heifers, account for all animals distributed, and provide him with a heifer as an intended beneficiary.
However, NAADS denied the allegations, stating that the programme was implemented within its legal mandate and that other beneficiaries cited by the applicant had received support under separate agricultural interventions. Through an affidavit by Livestock Development Officer Thomas Nsemerirwe, NAADS also told the court that a heifer allocated to Tuyizere had already been procured and was available, but that he had allegedly failed to collect it.
In his judgment, Justice Kinobe noted that while the matter was properly before the court as a judicial review application, the applicant failed to prove illegality, irrationality, or procedural impropriety by the respondents. The judge observed that Tuyizere relied on an alleged policy restricting beneficiaries to specific youth council leaders, but the document was not presented before the court.
“Court cannot rule illegality based on a document not adduced by the party who intends to rely on the same to prove a ground,” Justice Kinobe stated. The judge further held that NAADS acted within its statutory mandate under the National Agricultural Advisory Services framework. On the claim of irrationality, the court found that no sufficient evidence was presented to prove that the applicant was removed from the beneficiaries’ list or that the contested recipients were unlawfully included.
Justice Kinobe emphasized that judicial review is concerned with the legality of decision-making processes rather than determining entitlement to benefits. “The applicant seeks to frame the matter as mismanagement of a youth poverty-alleviation program… Such questions pertain to substantive rights of parties, which lie outside the purview of judicial review,” the judge ruled. The court also found no evidence of procedural impropriety by either NAADS or the National Youth Council. The application was accordingly dismissed, with costs awarded against Tuyizere-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
