High Court Judge Bonny Isaac Teko has reviewed and set aside a ruling that ordered the Wakiso District Land Board to pay former High Court Judge Anup Singh Choudry a sum of 300 million Shillings in general and punitive damages.
Justice Teko found that the Board had been condemned to pay the damages without being thrown a party to the proceedings or being allowed to defend itself.
The earlier ruling, delivered in February 2026, awarded Choudry 200 million Shillings in general damages and 100 million Shillings in punitive damages over the Board’s handling of his application to convert 11.972 hectares of land in Entebbe from customary tenure to freehold.
Choudry and his brother had applied to convert land comprised in Plots 3 to 27 on Brother Aman’s Drive, Entebbe, for a proposed grape-farming investment. The application followed recommendations and approvals by local and municipal authorities and the Ministry of Lands. A deed plan for the land was subsequently issued in February 2017.
However, the Wakiso District Land Board, which is responsible for converting customary tenure to freehold within the district, deferred the application, citing discrepancies between the plot numbers in the application and those contained in communications from the Area Land Committee.
The Board also considered objections from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, which argued that the land’s proximity to Entebbe International Airport posed a potential security risk and could limit the airport’s future expansion. Frustrated by the delay, Choudry petitioned the High Court against the Wakiso District Land Board, the Registrar of Titles and the Civil Aviation Authority.
In December 2019, Justice Musa Ssekaana directed the Board to determine the application within 60 days. Choudry subsequently filed a human rights case against Gilbert Kasozi, a land officer with the Board, as well as James Katono and Nambale, Nerima & Co. Advocates, who had represented the Board in the earlier proceedings.
The Wakiso District Land Board, however, was not joined as a respondent in the human rights case. In February 2026, the court ruled in Choudry’s favour and awarded him 300 million Shillings in damages. Although the Board was not a party to the case, the court held that Kasozi had acted in his capacity as an employee of the Board, making the Board vicariously liable for his conduct. The court also directed the Board to reconsider Choudry’s application without requiring a letter of no objection from the Civil Aviation Authority.
The Board subsequently applied for a review of the decision, arguing that it had been penalised without being heard. In his ruling on the review application, Justice Teko agreed with the Board, holding that the error was apparent from the court record because the Board had not been a party to the proceedings despite orders being made against it.
He said a court could only examine the legality of a statutory body’s exercise of discretion where the body had been properly joined to the proceedings and allowed to be heard. Justice Teko therefore set aside the orders imposing the damages on the Wakiso District Land Board, saying the Board could not be condemned without first being brought before the court and heard.
He has now directed that the Wakiso District Land Board be joined to the suit as a respondent so that the dispute over liability for the damages can be reheard. The review does not, however, amount to a final determination of who should bear liability for the damages. The Board will now have an opportunity to present its case before the court makes a fresh determination on the issue-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
