PALLISA – City Lawyer Silver Adowa, a son of the late prominent engineer George William Owaraga has been ordered to stop destroying his half sister’s gardens in Pallisa.
Last week, on Friday, 14th June 2024, on written instruction from the Inspector General of Police, officers of the Uganda Police Force, led by the Police Legal Officer for North Bukedi, John Were, were at the home of the Late Engineer George William Owaraga, in Kadoki Village in Pallisa District to formally begin enforcing the protective Court Order awarded by the Mbale High Court to Norah Owaraga against her eldest step-brother, Silver Adowa.
It is over a year since Mbale High Court issued the order, on 4th May 2023, when Lady Justice Margaret Apiny ruled in favour of Norah and granted her application for court ordered protection against Adowa; which Court Order Adowa is reportedly refusing to respect and to obey.
According to court papers, the status quo to be maintained is of Norah as the occupant and user of the land.
“A temporary injunction is hereby issued maintaining the status quo and restraining the Respondent (Adowa), his agents or assignees and successors from cutting and or destroying the Appellant/Applicant’s orchard trees until the determination of the main suit,” Lady Justice Apiny ruled.
In his sworn affidavit, Adowa, acknowledged Norah’s use rights, writing, “it is the Applicant/Appellant who is in occupation of the suit land and some other family members other than the Respondent (him).”
Represented by Okalang Law Chambers, with Advocate Allan Ogoi as lead counsel, in March 2022, Norah filed a case (Main suit) against Adowa at Mbale High Court, which is ongoing. Norah accuses Adowa for destroying her orchard which he forcefully entered, cultivating on it using ox-ploughs for tilling, planting maize and cutting down trees, continuously threatening her, stopping her from using her land; and from maintaining and benefiting from her orchard and disturbing her right to quiet possession of her orchard.
She is requesting Court to order Adowa to pay her over Shs225 million in damages and loss of income, plus interest of 27% per annum from November 2020 till payment is made in full.
According to court papers, Norah established her orchard over 15 years ago; on land her late father gifted her. The land surrounds her father’s ancestral home, their family home in Pallisa district.
The late Eng. Owaraga, died on 1st November 2020, after long illness. During the time that he was ailing and fighting for his life, incapacitated and no longer able to go for home stays at his ancestral home in Pallisa, is when Adowa allegedly began destroying Norah’s orchard.
Norah who was her late father’s primary caregiver at their home in Entebbe says she had too stopped going to her farm lands in Pallisa, which provided Adowa with the opportunity to allegedly begin to destroy her orchard,
Her court ordered protection and restraining order against Adowa was unusually granted over a year after Norah applied for it. This is because the Deputy Registrar of the High Court at Mbale at the time, March 2022, His Worship Ereemye Jumiire James, declined to consider and to grant Norah’s application; and even went ahead to dismiss Norah’s main suit, without a court hearing.
Norah appealed and her appeal went before Lady Justice Apiny, who agreed with Norah’s legal team that Deputy Registrar Ereemye, in his handling and dismissal of Norah’s application, erred in law and fact on over ten counts, including, among others, ignoring evidence, not following procedure, becoming a witness and introducing new facts not part of parties’ pleadings.
“The decision by the learned Deputy Registrar to conduct the locus quo after parties had filed their submissions was appalling to say the least, “Lady Justice Apiny ruled.
Consequently, Lady Justice Apiny ordered that the orders of the learned Deputy Registrar dismissing Miscellaneous Application No. 53 of 2022 (Norah’s application) are be set aside.
On the matter of costs, Lady Justice Apiny ordered that each party shall bear their own costs since they are family members.
During the reading of the court order to those gathered at Kaloki village, Adowa vehemently denied ever destroying Norah`s Garden claiming that Norah herself cut down the trees which had been cited as an example of his actions.
“I respect the court order because it’s simply ordering me not to do what I have never done. But I want to state that I will not respect anyone trying to starve me and my family.”
In response to his statement, the police officer John Were warned him about contempt of court stressing that the order must be respected or if not be challenged through a court process.
“This is a legitimate court order which must be respected and as a lawyer you know that. If you disagree with it you should inform the court through the known process….If you use other means you might be summoned or arrested” Were asserted.
Silver Adowa has in the past attempted to take possession of their family home where Norah resides in Entebbe but his efforts were deemed illegal and were thwarted.
