The Constitutional Court has ruled that the Traditional Rulers (Restitution of Assets and Properties) Act which led to restoration of kingdoms and their property is constitutional.
Price Kalemeera Kimera, a grandson of Daudi chwa II dragged the government of Uganda and the Kabaka to the Constitutional Court over the restoration of kingdoms.
Kalemeera said as the grandson of Chwa, he is a beneficiary to the estate of his grandfather but noted that the restoration of the kingdoms and the return of property to Buganda deprived him of his property rights.
However, three justices of the Constitutional Court including Richard Buteera, Catherine Bamugemereire, Mutangula Kibeedi, Irene Mulyagonja and Oscar Kihika threw out the petition they said is incompetent.
“It is not clear to me that the vesting/return of the assets that were confiscated from the traditional ruler of Buganda under Article 188 of the 1966 Constitution amounted to compulsory acquisition of those assets by the Government of Uganda. I also do not think that it amounted to compulsory acquisition by the Kabaka of Buganda. However, I observed that in his submissions, counsel for the petitioner claims that the vesting of the assets in dispute in the Kabaka of Buganda amounted to illicit enrichment. It has already been established that the facts relating to that claim still need to be proved,” Justice Irene Mulyagonja said in the lead judgement.
Justice Mulyagonja noted that the petition by Chwa’s grandson was not only an abuse of the court process but also a waste of the valuable time and limited resources of court.
“In conclusion therefore, the petition does not raise any questions for interpretation by this court and it ought to be dismissed. For that reason, the petitioner shall pay the costs of the petition to the respondents, in any event.”
The court therefore directed Chwa’s grandson to pay costs to the Attorney General and the Kabaka.
Commenting about the judgement, Buganda Attorney General, Christopher Bwanika said it will go a long way in warding off people who have made it a habit to sue the Kabaka over non-issues.
He said that the ruling clearly showed that the 1993 law is constitutional and that the returning of properties to the Kabaka was rightly done.
He warned people to stop wasting Kabaka’s time and resources in court since his time and resources would be better utilized in serving the people of Buganda.
Denis Bugaya, the spokesperson of Bugand Land Board equally welcomed the judgment and warned people who drag the Kabaka to court on flimsy grounds that the kingdom will not have mercy on them as it recovers its costs whenever it wins against them in court.
