The High Court sitting in Kampala has sentenced a widow to three months in civil prison for disobeying a court order to exhume the body of her deceased husband to conduct a DNA test on an alleged minor beneficiary to the deceased’s estate.
High Court Judge Lady Justice Celia Nagawa found Tembo Esther, the administrator of the estate of Mayanja Ronald, the late husband in the case of Ronella Flower Mayanja and Anor v Tembo Esther and Ors guilty of contempt of court for disobeying the Court order dated 15th May 2024 in which the Court ordered that the remains of her husband be exhumed to conduct a paternity test of the 2nd Applicant to determine issues to do with her maintenance from the estate.
The learned Judge held that the letters of administration that were granted to the widow amounted to a court order in law and that the widow had willfully disobeyed it and the “second order” of 15th May yet she had the capacity to implement it.
“The power of Court to punish for contempt is an important and necessary power for protecting the cause of justice and the rule of law, and for protecting the authority of the court and the supremacy of the law.” Justice Celia Nagawa stated, citing the Scottish case of Stewart Robertson Vs. Her Majesty’s Advocate, 2007 HCAC63 where it was held that:
“…contempt of court is constituted by conduct that denotes willful defiance of or disrespect towards the court or that willfully challenges or affronts the authority of the court or the supremacy of the law, whether in civil or criminal proceedings…The power of the court to punish for contempt is inherent in a system of administration of justice and that power is held by every judge.”
According to Justice Celia Nagawa, Tembo Esther’s conduct fell into the 3 conditions for there to be contempt of court as were set out in the case of Hon. Sitenda Sebalu Vs. The Secretary General of the East African Community Reference No. 8 of 2012 (East African Court of Justice) that is to say:
- There existed a lawful order
- The potential contemnor had knowledge of the order
- The potential contemnor had the ability to comply with the order ie the contemnor disobeyed the order.
In this case, as already stated, the learned Judge held that letters of administration such as the ones that were granted to Tembo Esther, the first respondent are court orders and are therefore capable of being referred to as “lawful orders” and that by not performing her duties of administrator to implement the exhumation order of 15th May she had actually disobeyed both orders.
She defined a lawful order as “a formal expression of any decision of a civil court which is not a decree” in accordance with Section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act.
Secondly, the learned Judge found, even on her admission in Court papers, that Tembo Esther was aware of the order for exhumation as it was issued in her presence in Court and to her as the administrator of the estate of the late Mayanja Ronald.
Thirdly, the Judge found that as an administrator of the estate, she had all the powers to cause the exhumation of her late husband’s remains and to file legal action against anyone who obstructed her in that regard.
The arguments that she did not exhume the body because she did not have the consent of the family of the late Mayanja Ronald were rejected.
“ The 1st Respondent actually already had the 1st Order which is the Letters of Administration. As an administrator of the estate of the late Mayanja Ronald, she had the mantle in her hands and she only had to execute her duties as a personal representative. In case she was faced with any objection from the cousins (2nd and 3rd Respondents) she would have filed a suit against them. Before this Court, there isn’t any case filed that she had any interference with the Court Order nor in managing the estate of the deceased. Instead, she had the full blessing from the sister of the deceased, Dr. Maureen Mayanja who communicated to her through an email on 18th May 2024…” Justice Celia Nagawa stated.
“By way of background, Dr. Maureen Mayanja is the only biological sister to the deceased, the Late Mayanja Ronald. In her email, she acknowledges the 1st Respondent as an Administrator of the Estate of the Late Mayanja Ronald with all the mandate to execute her duties as an administrator. The 1st Respondent did not file any suit against the said family of the late Mayanja Ronald to claim that as an administrator she was faced with any interface/obstruction to have the human remains exhumed. I do not have on the court record any communication calling for a meeting, or requesting for one from the 2nd and 3rd Respondents, or signed minutes of any meeting where the 1st Respondent was in attendance to implement the Court Order or have the family participate in the exhumation exercise. Besides the Court Order overrides any other prerequisites if indeed as an administrator she had taken heed.”
Benjamin Ahikiiriza is a legal writer and publisher of the Legal Reports Digital Media.