Court dismisses Mt Elgon evictees compensation case
Dismissing their case in a ruling delivered on February 9, 2026, High Court judge Farouq Lubega noted that they were way beyond the 30 days’ statutory limitation period by the time they filed their case on August 17, 2023.
The decision shuts down the evictees' bid for compensation but also saves the Government billions that would have been spent in compensation. (File photo)
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It is a huge relief for the Government after the High Court in Mbale dismissed a case in which over 1,600 victims of the 1999 Mt Elgon Forest eviction were seeking compensation.
Dismissing their case in a ruling delivered on February 9, 2026, High Court judge Farouq Lubega noted that they were way beyond the 30 days’ statutory limitation period by the time they filed their case on August 17, 2023.
Citing rule 4 (1) of the Modification to the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Enforcement) Procedures Rules of 1996, Lubega said they were required to institute their case within 30 days of the breach.
“It is declared that Civil Suit No. 55 of 2023 is barred by the law of limitation, hence it is hereby dismissed,” Lubega ruled.
The ruling arose from an application filed by Joshua Serugendo and Abubaker Ibrahim from the Attorney General’s Chambers and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), respectively, asking the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that it was time-barred.
The decision shuts down the evictees' bid for compensation but also saves the Government billions that would have been spent in compensation.
Evictees case
Led by David Chemonges, over 1,600 people were seeking compensation from the Government, claiming that they were on February 24, 1999, illegally evicted from their historical, indigenous and ancestral land located on the eastern slopes of Mt Elgon Forest currently in Bukwo district, an action which they claim greatly affected their lives in addition to loss of property and their valuables without compensation.
They argued that they lived on the eastern slopes of Mt Elgon Forest in the current Kongasis County, Bukwo district, before it was gazetted to be Elgon Forest Reserve.
The area was later gazetted as a national park in 1993 in recognition of the fragile nature of its ecological system as a whole.
They argued that they were evicted without any policy or hope for their resettlement, compensation, or giving them any fair hearing, which offends Article 26 of the Constitution.
However, Serugendo argued that the suit was time-barred since the alleged cause of action against the Government arose on February 24, 2023, which is over 18 years and hence not tenable under the law.
Serugendo contended that since their case was about the recovery of land, it also offended Section 5 of the Limitation Act, which put in place a 12-year limitation period for the recovery of the land.