Uganda’s judiciary witnessed a dramatic mix of justice, corporate debt, and administrative corruption last week, as appellate judges and trial courts issued rulings that laid bare the fragile boundaries of state power.
In a single week, the courts overturned a controversial torture payout to a convicted felon, held a major construction firm liable for a multi-million-dollar supply debt, jailed municipal officials over a brazen land grab, and rescued a young foreign girl from a legally flawed deportation.
COURT OVERTURNS SHS 200M TORTURE COMPENSATION AWARD
The most legally striking intervention unfolded at the Court of Appeal, where a panel of three judges dismantled a Shs 200 million torture compensation award previously granted to a convicted defilement offender.
Henry Muloki appeared before the High court in Mukono on June 8, 2017, carried by fellow inmates and lying down to plead guilty to aggravated defilement.
He told Justice Margaret Mutonyi that a prison warder named Otim had brutally beaten him while he laboured on the Kitalya Prison farm. Convinced of the abuse, the trial judge ordered the State to pay him Shs 200 million, cover his legal fees, and provide medical treatment, while sentencing him to four and a half years-the exact time he had already spent on remand.
Yet the appellate court ruled that this noble impulse to punish abuse bypassed fundamental due process principles. The justices noted that the prison warden had never been formally summoned to answer the claims, and the Attorney General had never been joined as a party, leaving the government without a chance to defend itself.
More importantly, the bench clarified that a criminal trial judge’s authority is strictly confined to determining guilt and imposing a lawful sentence, rather than adjudicating independent civil tort claims against the state.
While Muloki could pursue compensation through a proper civil suit or under Article 50 of the Constitution, the court set aside the payout entirely, leaving his original prison sentence untouched.
COURT ORDERS ROKO TO PAY US$ 1.39 MILLION
Across the capital, the civil division of the High Court delivered a heavy financial blow to one of Uganda’s premier builders.
Justice Mubiru ordered Roko Construction Limited to pay more than $1.39 million to the international door supplier Assa Abloy, closing the book on a bitter commercial dispute over materials delivered for Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Assa Abloy argued it had shipped 2,716 specialized door sets and ironmongery worth $2.58 million, but Roko had stalled on the balance after paying $1.19 million. Roko contested the bill, claiming it had only ordered 1,784 doors, that some items arrived defective, and that thousands of doors had been repossessed.
Justice Mubiru rejected those defences after reviewing email chains and joint audit reports from August 2020 that confirmed the deliveries. The judge noted that Roko had failed to formally reject any goods or legally prove its claims of defects, leaving the contractor fully exposed to the debt.
The court awarded Assa Abloy the outstanding $1,391,667.58, saddled Roko with nine percent annual interest dating back to August 2020, and dismissed claims against the Attorney General after ruling that the government merely benefited indirectly from the hospital project.
KCCA OFFICIALS REMANDED OVER ALLEGED MUNYONYO LAND FRAUD
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Court heard a municipal scandal involving alleged land fraud. The court remanded four individuals, including three senior Kampala Capital City Authority officials and a land dealer, to jail.
Wasswa Charles Jude, a Principal Assistant Secretary; Aga ba Ronah, a government valuer; Achom Esther, a data entry clerk; and land dealer Kizito John face serious charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, abuse of office, and fraudulently procuring a land title.
According to state prosecutors, the quartet engineered a sophisticated plot in 2024 to steal a 0.202-hectare plot in Munyonyo that James Mulebeke has held since 2011. Investigators revealed that Kizito initiated the scheme by smuggling paperwork to bypass the rightful owner, while Achom and Wasswa fast-tracked the documents outside official registry channels.
Wasswa allegedly pressured a titles registrar to issue a special certificate without requiring Mulebeke to verify his identity.
Compounding the fraud, Agaba allegedly valued the prime property at a meagre Shs 200 million, a third of its true market value exceeding Shs 600 million, while another official bypassed stamp duty requirements.
The court remanded the accused until October 29, 2026, as it issued criminal summonses for additional suspects.
COURT OVERTURNS ERITREAN GIRL’S CONVICTION
Finally, the High Court stepped in to correct a grave miscarriage of justice involving a vulnerable minor.
Justice Wolimbwa overturned the conviction of an Eritrean girl named Kasete, who had been hastily found guilty by a Nakawa magistrate on December 10, 2025, for unlawfully entering Uganda and ordered deported.
The review found that the trial magistrate failed to establish her age or provide the mandatory legal safeguards required for juveniles, proceeding without a lawyer, parent, guardian, or welfare officer present.
Although the court provided a Tigrinya interpreter, it ruled that her guilty plea was legally hollow because she was never informed of her consular rights. Justice Wolimbwa set aside the deportation order and directed that she be retried fairly before a Family and Children Court, ensuring her basic rights are protected.