Uganda: Oyee & 2 Ors v Zubeida
Published: 29/Mar/2017
Source: Uganda High Court
Oyee & 2 Ors v Zubeida (Civil Appeal 27 of 2012) [2017] UGHCLD 27
Extract:
The respondent in this case adduced evidence proving only that she was born and ordinarily resident in Uganda. However, where citizenship is in issue, ordinary residence will mean “lawfully ordinarily resident” (see R v. SSHD ex p. Margueritte [1983] QB 180 and In re Abdul Manan [1971] 1 WLR 859). It was therefore incumbent upon the respondent in this case to adduce all such evidence, documentary or otherwise, concerning such facts as her place and date of birth, the village, sub-county, county and district of birth, the indigenous community to which she belongs, her father’s names and place of birth and clan, her mother’s names, place of birth and clan, names of two contemporary descendants, her inclusion in the immediately preceding electoral roll, etc.
According to Article 10 (a) of The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. In order for one to acquire citizenship by birth, a person should have been “born in Uganda one of whose parents or grandparents is or was a member of any of the indigenous communities existing and residing within the borders of Uganda as at the first day of February, 1926, and set out in the Third Schedule to this Constitution.” Matters were not helped therefore when she stated that she is Bari, which is not one of the indigenous tribes of Uganda as enumerated in the Third Schedule of The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. She did not adduce any direct evidence to prove that her late father, Adrahman Wani belonged to any of the indigenous tribes of Uganda as enumerated in the Third Schedule of The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 or any other information concerning the rest of the determinants save her assertion that she is Ugandan. She therefore failed to discharge the burden of proof and the trial court failed to direct itself properly when it overlooked this aspect of the pleadings and the evidence before it. Without such proof, her claim of being customary owner of the land in dispute became unsustainable.
Read full judgment: https://new.ulii.org/ug/judgment/hc-land-division-uganda/2017/27