Mayambala v Uganda Commercial Bank (Civil Application No. 9 of 1999) [1999] UGCA 77 (25 May 1999)

Full Case Text

## *I* THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA CHARLES MAYAMBALA • VERSUS IN THE*•9l .* COURT OFr APPEAL OF UGANDA **(f** ' 'AT KAMPALA CIVIL APPLICATION NO .9 . QF-1-9W? before :P1#ELLANt/

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## UGANDA COMMERCIAL BANK RESPONDENT

## RULING OF TWINOMUJUNR J. A.

the Privatisation ' Unit of the for a party in H. C. C. S. No.160 of 1981. U. C. B. as applicant seeks Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning be substituted This is an application by Notice of Motion whereby *I* an order that the

The brief background of this application is that in 1981 the applicant filed Civil-Suit No.160/81 against U. C. B. The suit was eventually determined against the appellant in January 1992. It is not clear what happened thereafter until on 22nd December 1997 when Hon. Justice C. M. Kato sitting as a single judge allowed the On the applicant is reported to have stated:- 'applicant to file a Notice of Appeal to this court. Subsequently, the Notice and Memorandum of Appeal were filed in Civil Appeal No.'4/98 and the case was fixed for hearing for 26th October 1998. ■the date of the hearing,

"I disown this record of appeal drawn by M/s Zaabwe & Co. . Advocates whom I had already dismissed. He had no instructions to prepare this record of appeal. I also disown the Notice of Appeal prepared by M/s Zaabwe & Co. Advocates."

The Court of Appeal then held:-

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Court of Appeal "The appellant having disowned the record of appeal that had been filed by his lawyers who he dismissed and having not filed another, record of appeal, there is no appeal pending before this court. No.4 of 1998 is accordingly struck off."

any other appeal in this court to date. It is therefore amazing that since then, three civil applications related to C. A. *No.*160/81 have been fixed before me. In all the original defendant with some other people or organisations Two of these applications have been pending because the applicant could not to Uganda Commercial Bank. No.52 of 1998 and this instant application No.9 of 1999. of them, the applicant is seeking to substitute or join with UCB since the UCB has admittedly ceased to exist as a legal entity. Since this appeal was struck off, the applicant has never filed identify the correct successor They are No. 51 of 19 98,

It is only today that I. discovered that there is no appeal filed by the applicant and pending in this court. In these. this court *f'* being a Court of Appeal, cannot made a subject of appeal to it-. circumstances entertain applications relating to matters that have not been If this- fact had come to my

knowledge earlier, I would have struck off Civil Applications Similarly Civil Application No.9/99 is misconceived. The fact that discovered after I had reserved a ruling on a preliminary objection raised before -the hearing of the application. there was no appeal pending was No.51 and 52 of 1998.

longer necessary to deal with the merits of the preliminary objection. It is obvious that this application should not have been filed in this's court when there is no appeal pending before the court. The application is accordingly struck off. In those circumstances\* it is no

I have not had t-he benefit of receiving the view of counsel on the issue of costs on this and the other applications I have ordered to be struck off. I therefore make no order as to costs.

May 1999. Dated this day of

PPEAL

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