A High Court application in which businessman Hamis Kiggundu seeks to dismiss a case filed against him by a group of Kampala traders has been adjourned after the presiding judge, Justice Bernard Namanya, was declared indisposed and away on leave.
The case had been scheduled for hearing, but the judge’s absence compelled the court’s registrar Simon Kintu Zirintusa to adjourn the proceedings.
The application, filed by Kiggundu together with Kiham Enterprises against National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) seeks to have the traders’ suit dismissed entirely.
The traders accuse Kiggundu of undertaking construction activities they say are illegal and harmful to the environment.
However, when the case came up for hearing Mr Kintu informed the parties that the case would not proceed.
‘The trial judge is indisposed and currently on leave. We shall await guidance from him on the next hearing date,’ Mr Kintu said.
The adjournment means the application remains pending until Justice Namanya returns to fix a new date for its hearing.
In a parallel development, the traders had filed a separate application seeking an interim injunction to stop construction works allegedly linked to the disputed project which traders say is partly to blame for the most recent shop flooding downtown Kampala. That application had been set for hearing on December 11.
But according to the registrar, the interim application cannot proceed before the main High Court application filed by Kiggundu is heard and resolved.
‘The High Court application takes precedence. We cannot entertain the interim injunction until the application for dismissal is first disposed of,’ the registrar stated.
This effectively means the traders’ attempts to halt ongoing construction have been temporarily frozen, pending the High Court’s determination on whether their entire case should stand or be dismissed at the outset.
In the application before Justice Namanya, Mr Kiggundu argues that the traders’ suit is baseless, improperly filed, and should not be allowed to proceed. He contends that the claims brought against him lack merit and that both NEMA and KCCA, who are jointly listed as respondents, followed lawful procedures in all approvals related to the construction.
Mr Kiggundu, through his lawyers, states that the traders have no legal basis to challenge the developments and that the case amounts to an abuse of court process. He is asking the High Court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
The applicants Kampala Arcaders Traders Association (KATA) and UNATA Traders Association Uganda Limited are challenging ongoing construction works that they say have caused flooding and destruction of traders’ merchandise in downtown Kampala.
They argue that both NEMA and KCCA failed in their statutory duties, and they accuse Kiggundu of proceeding with the project without proper consultations.
Their injunction application sought a temporary halt on construction until the main case was fully heard, but the registrar clarified that the court cannot entertain it before resolving the dismissal application.
With Justice Namanya still on leave, the registrar assured the parties that the court would communicate a hearing date as soon as the judge is available.
‘We shall notify all parties once the court is in position to proceed,’ he said.
The adjournment leaves both sides in limbo as Kiggundu awaits the chance to argue for dismissal of the case, and the traders wait for an opportunity to push for the injunction that would freeze the ongoing construction.