Kampala, Uganda — The High Court in Kampala has ruled that the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) unlawfully suspended the School Management Committee of Nakivubo Settlement Primary School without consulting the institution’s recognised founding body.
Justice Collins Acellam also found that KCCA acted unlawfully when it subsequently constituted successive School Management Committees without involving the Registered Trustees of Nakivubo Settlement (Muzzanganda), which the court recognised as the founding body of the school.
The judgment, delivered on August 17, 2026, followed a suit filed by the Registered Trustees challenging KCCA’s decision to suspend the school’s management committee in May 2015 and its subsequent exclusion of the trustees from the school’s governance structures.
At the centre of the dispute was whether KCCA could exercise its statutory authority over a government-aided school without first consulting the organisation that founded it.
Justice Acellam answered that question firmly.
“Parliament did not authorize unilateral suspension. Instead, it expressly required consultation with the founding body before the statutory power could lawfully be exercised.”
The court found that although KCCA had the legal authority to intervene in the management of a government-aided school, that authority was subject to conditions imposed by Parliament under the Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act, 2008.
“Every public authority is a creature of statute,” Justice Acellam said, stressing that a public body has “neither inherent powers nor unfettered discretion.”
According to the judge, possessing statutory power was not enough.
“The decision-maker must correctly appreciate the source, extent, limitations and conditions governing the exercise of that power,” he ruled.
KCCA failed to prove consultation
The court found that KCCA suspended the School Management Committee on May 25, 2015, citing administrative problems including a breakdown in communication between the committee and the head teacher, failure to work as a team, alleged incompetence, teacher agitation and conflict of interest involving some committee members.
Justice Acellam accepted that those circumstances could have justified intervention.
But he distinguished the reasons for intervention from the procedure KCCA was required to follow.
“I readily accept that those matters, if established, could justify intervention by the education authority,” the judge said. “However, the existence of substantive justification cannot cure procedural illegality.”
KCCA failed to produce evidence showing that it had consulted the trustees before taking action.
The judge noted that there was no meeting with the founding body, no invitation to a consultation, no minutes, no attendance register, no correspondence and no report showing that the trustees had been given an opportunity to present their views.
“The absence of such evidence is particularly significant because these are matters peculiarly within the Defendant’s knowledge and official records.”
The court also relied heavily on a letter from the trustees’ lawyers dated July 24, 2015, which protested the suspension and specifically complained that the founding body had not been consulted.
Justice Acellam described the letter as a contemporaneous complaint that strengthened the trustees’ case because it had been made shortly after the suspension.
“Significantly, the Defendant produced no contemporaneous response contradicting that allegation or asserting that consultation had in fact taken place.”
Court rejects ownership argument
KCCA had challenged the trustees’ legal standing, arguing principally that Nakivubo Settlement Primary School was a government-aided school and that neither the school nor its property belonged to the trustees.
The judge accepted that the school was under public administration but said KCCA had conflated ownership with governance.
“The legislative scheme deliberately distinguishes ownership from governance,” Justice Acellam ruled.
He said the trustees’ claim was not based on ownership of the school or its assets, but on statutory rights arising from their status as the founding body.
“The rights asserted in the present proceedings are therefore statutory rights of governance and participation. They neither depend upon nor are defeated by the absence of proprietary ownership.”
The court found that the trustees had proved their incorporation as a corporate body and had also established, on a balance of probabilities, that they were the recognised founding body of Nakivubo Settlement Primary School.
KCCA, the judge noted, did not identify another organisation as the founding body and produced no official record showing that the trustees had lost that status.
The judge consequently held that the trustees had the necessary legal standing to sue.
“The Plaintiff has proved that it is the recognized founding body of Nakivubo Settlement Primary School with the requisite legal standing to institute and maintain the present suit.”
KCCA’s own circular worked against it
Another significant piece of evidence was a KCCA circular issued in March 2010 concerning the composition of School Management Committees.
The court found that the circular itself recognised the participation of founding bodies in the committees.
Justice Acellam said this was important because the circular demonstrated that KCCA understood the legal role of founding bodies.
“The Circular is particularly significant because it emanates from the Defendant itself. It demonstrates that the Defendant fully appreciated the statutory governance framework applicable to government-aided schools.”
The judge therefore rejected any suggestion that KCCA’s failure to involve the trustees could be attributed to ignorance of the law.
The court also rejected KCCA’s explanation that it was uncertain about who represented the trustees, noting that KCCA had previously received formal notification updating the trustees.
“The alleged uncertainty therefore lacks evidential foundation and cannot justify non-compliance with an express statutory obligation.”
Subsequent committees also unlawful
The court found that KCCA’s breach did not end with the 2015 suspension.
Successive School Management Committees were constituted without representation from the trustees despite their recognised status as the founding body.
The judge said this was inconsistent with both the Education Act and KCCA’s own circular.
“The statutory role of a founding body is not symbolic or ceremonial,” Justice Acellam ruled.
He said Parliament had deliberately preserved the role of founding bodies in government-aided schools and that their participation was intended to promote accountability, participatory governance and institutional continuity.
The court ultimately held that KCCA had demonstrated reasons that could justify intervention in the school but had failed to demonstrate that it exercised its powers in accordance with the law.
“The Defendant has proved the existence of reasons for suspension but has failed to prove that the suspension and subsequent constitution of School Management Committees were undertaken in the manner required by law.”
Court issues permanent injunction
Justice Acellam entered judgment in favour of the Registered Trustees and issued several orders against KCCA.
The court formally declared the trustees the recognised founding body of Nakivubo Settlement Primary School and affirmed their statutory rights and responsibilities under the Education Act.
It further declared KCCA’s 2015 decision to suspend the School Management Committee without prior consultation unlawful.
The judge also declared unlawful KCCA’s subsequent constitution of School Management Committees without involving the trustees.
Most significantly, the court issued a permanent injunction restraining KCCA, its servants, agents or anyone acting under its authority from constituting or reconstituting the school’s management committee except in accordance with the Education Act.
“The Plaintiff be accorded the consultation and representation guaranteed to it under the Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act, 2008,” the final order states.
However, the judge stopped short of ordering the dissolution of the current committee or nullifying decisions it had previously made.
Justice Acellam said such orders had not been specifically sought and could disrupt the continued administration of the public school. Instead, he opted to restore legality prospectively while preserving administrative continuity.
The Registered Trustees were also awarded the costs of the suit.
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