Court upholds arbitral award against late Prof. Kanyeihamba in Bwebajja land row

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The Commercial Division of the High Court in Kampala has upheld the arbitral award given to Dr Clemens Fehr, a German investor, following his eviction from land comprised in Block 397, Plots 169, 177, 178 and 225 at Ddewe in Bwebajja on Entebbe road.

Late Supreme Court Judge Prof. George Kanyeihamba, the proprietor, had leased out the land to Fehr for 25 years with effect from July 1, 2001, for purposes of establishing a farm of vanilla and other horticultural plants on the suit land.

However, in 2005, Kanyeihamba evicted Fehr, accusing him of violating the terms of the lease agreement when he allegedly took up more than 20-acres.

Consequently, on December 5, 2005, Fehr, through his lawyers of M/s Mwesigye and Mugisha Advocates, wrote to the lawyers of Kanyeihamba of M/s MMAKS Advocates notifying them of his decision to refer the matter to arbitration as per clause 6 of the lease agreement.

However, they never responded, prompting Fehr to write to the Uganda Law Society (ULS) requesting the lawyers' professional body to appoint an arbitrator after Kanyeihamba made no reply to the request for the parties to nominate arbitrators.

In 2021, ex-ULS President Pheona Wall Nabasa appointed Aime Mbarushimana from Rwanda as an arbitrator in line with section 11 (4)(c) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, which allows entrusted parties in the agreement to appoint an arbitrator where the parties fail to agree on one.

Following his appointment, Mbarushimana resolved the matter in favour of Fehr.

Consequently, Mbarushimana made an arbitral award (not disclosed but in huge sums of money) ordering Kanyeihamba to pay it to Fehr in compensation and damages.

Dissatisfied with the arbitral award, Kanyeihamba filed an application asking the court to set aside the arbitral award.

He argued that the arbitration process was time-barred, having commenced more than six years after the dispute.

Through his lawyers of M/s Birungyi, Barata and Company Advocates, Kanyeihamba argued that the appointment of Mbarushimana was null and void because neither him or the donees of his powers of attorney were given an opportunity to participate in the arbitration process.

The ruling

However, in a ruling on February 20, 2026, High Court Judge Patricia Mutesi has dismissed Kanyeihamba’s application, saying the arbitration process was commenced within time and that he was duly served, but he elected not to be heard and thus the arbitrator rightly proceeded exparte.

“Having found no fault in the impugned arbitral proceedings and arbitral award, I find that the proceedings and the award were/are in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. Consequently, this application fails and hereby dismissed with costs to the Respondent,” Mutesi ruled.

Mutesi condemned the late Kanyeihamba for allegedly frustrating the arbitration by indiscriminately contesting every appointment of an arbitrator for nearly 20 years, which she said only served to delay the full appraisal of the allegedly fictitious claim.

In an affidavit, Brenda Kanyango, a former clerk in the legal aid project of ULS, stated that she went to Kanyeihamba’s home on February 2, 2022, to serve him with invitations for a preliminary meeting, but he tore the documents and threw them away.

The court decision brings to an end the 20-year protracted legal battle dating back to a lease agreement executed in August 2001. This means the administrators of his estate will have to pay the money.