An 80-year-old woman named Sikora Kokyenga in Rubanda district faces difficulties in appealing a land case after her file went missing from Kabale High Court. She had planned to appeal a case regarding 25 acres of land in Kagunga village, Nyaruhanga parish, Ikimba sub-county. Kokyenga had previously won the case against her nephew, Rozio Sebugwaho, in civil suit number 071/2005.
In 2016, Furugence Kanyamugara, another relative, sued her for trespassing on the same land. Kokyenga needed a copy of the original ruling as evidence for her new case. However, when she approached Kabale High Court to obtain the ruling copy, she was informed that the file was missing.
A letter from Kabale High Court dated July 25, 2023, signed by Assistant Registrar Henry Twinomuhwezi, confirmed that the file might have been lost during the court’s relocation from Makanga Hill to Kikungiri Hill in February 2017.
Despite explaining her predicament to Kabale Magistrates Court, Kokyenga was dismayed when Chief Magistrate Gordon Muhimbise ruled in favor of Kanyamugara. The ruling ordered her eviction and the payment of UGX 5 million in damages to the plaintiff. Kokyenga asserts that the land was inherited from her late biological parents, Alben Mugorora and Margarita Beiragura.
Now, she seeks government intervention to pressure Kabale High Court to recover the missing file so she can appeal to higher courts. Mariam Mwiza, the executive director of Overseas Workers Voice Uganda, a human rights organization, is assisting Kokyenga.
Mwiza has raised concerns about Beitwenda and Company Advocates, the law firm that initially represented Kokyenga and later acted on behalf of Kanyamugwara against Kokyenga before the Kabale Chief Magistrate. This raises questions about a lawyer representing a case against their former client, which is against legal regulations. Mwiza calls for a review of the case with a competent magistrate.
Ereemye Mawanda, the Judiciary Communications Officer, stated that it is not the Judiciary’s policy to have files missing and that the court registrar’s office at Kabale High Court has been informed to investigate the matter. He mentioned that the file could be misplaced but not entirely missing. Regarding the absence of an online copy of the ruling, Mawanda explained that the online method of keeping rulings is currently implemented in specific areas, not yet including Kabale.
