Uganda

Limitation Act
Chapter 290

Legislation as at 31 December 2023

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290)
Contents
Part I – Interpretation ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

1. Interpretation ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Part II – Periods of limitation for different classes of actions ........................................................................................................... 2

2. Part II to be subject to provisions of Part III relating to disability, acknowledgment, fraud, etc. ............................... 2

Actions of contract and tort and certain other actions .................................................................................................................. 2

3. Limitation of actions of contract and tort and certain other actions ............................................................................ 2

4. Limitation in case of successive conversions and extinction of title of owner of converted goods .................... 3

Actions to recover land and rents .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

5. Limitation of actions to recover land ........................................................................................................................................ 3

6. Accrual of right of action in case of present interests in land ........................................................................................ 3

7. Accrual of right of action in case of future interests ........................................................................................................... 4

8. Provisions in case of settled land and land held on trust ................................................................................................. 4

9. Accrual of right of action in case of forfeiture or breach of condition ......................................................................... 5

10. Accrual of right of action in case of certain tenancies .................................................................................................... 5

11. Right of action not to accrue or continue unless there is adverse possession ........................................................ 5

12. Cure of defective disentailing assurance ............................................................................................................................... 6

13. Limitation of redemption actions ............................................................................................................................................. 6

14. No right of action to be preserved by formal entry or continual claim ..................................................................... 6

15. Administration to date back to death ..................................................................................................................................... 6

16. Extinction of title after expiration of period ....................................................................................................................... 6

17. Limitation of action to recover rent ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Actions to recover money secured by mortgage or charge or to recover proceeds of sale of land ................................. 7

18. Limitation of actions to recover money secured by mortgage or charge or to recover proceeds of sale of
land .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Actions in respect of trust property or personal estate of deceased persons ........................................................................ 7

19. Limitation of actions in respect of trust property .............................................................................................................. 7

20. Limitation of actions claiming personal estate of deceased person ........................................................................... 8

Part III – Extension of limitation periods in case of disability, acknowledgment, part payment, fraud and mistake
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Disability ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

21. Extension of limitation period in case of disability .......................................................................................................... 8

Acknowledgment and part payment ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

22. Fresh accrual of action on acknowledgment or part payment ...................................................................................... 9

23. Formal provisions as to acknowledgments and part payments .................................................................................... 9

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 24. Effect of acknowledgment or part payment on persons other than maker or recipient ....................................... 9

Fraud and mistake ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

25. Postponement of limitation period in case of fraud or mistake ................................................................................. 10

Part IV – General .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 11

26. Application of Act and other limitation enactments to arbitrations ................................................................................ 11

27. Provisions as to setoff or counterclaim ...................................................................................................................................... 11

28. Acquiescence ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

29. Application of Act to registered land .......................................................................................................................................... 11

30. Application of Act to proceedings by or against Government ............................................................................................ 12

31. Miscellaneous savings ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12

32. Saving for other limitation enactments ..................................................................................................................................... 12

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290) Uganda

Uganda

Limitation Act
Chapter 290
Commenced on 7 May 1959

[This is the version of this document at 31 December 2023.]

[Note: This legislation was revised and consolidated as at 31 December 2000 and 31 December 2023 by the Law Reform
Commission of Uganda. All subsequent amendments have been researched and applied by Laws.Africa for ULII.]

An Act to provide for the limitation of certain actions and arbitrations and for related matters.

[Cap. 70 (Revised Edition, 1964); S.I. 135/1968, s. 2; Cap. 80 (Revised Edition, 2000)]

Part I – Interpretation

1. Interpretation
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“action” includes any proceeding in a court;

“award” means an award of an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, or a foreign
award within the meaning of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act;

“court” means the High Court or a magistrate’s court;

“enactment” means a legislative instrument having effect in Uganda;

“land” includes corporeal hereditaments and rent charges, and any legal or equitable estate or
interest in them, including an interest in the proceeds of the sale of land held on trust for sale, but
except as provided in this definition does not include any incorporeal hereditament;

“magistrate’s court” means a court established under the Magistrates Courts Act;

“officer”, in relation to the Government, includes the President, a Minister and any servant of the
Government;

“personal estates” and “personal property” do not include chattels real;

“personal injuries” includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental
condition;

“personal representative” has the same meaning as in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act;

“rent” includes a rent charge;

“rent charge” means any annuity or periodical sum of money charged upon or payable out of land,
except interest on a mortgage of land;

“submission” means a written agreement to submit present or future differences to arbitration,

whether an arbitrator is named in the agreement or not;

“trust”, “trustee” and “trust for sale” have the same meanings respectively as in the Trustees Act.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, proceedings by or against the Government shall include proceedings by
or against any Government department or officer of the Government as such.

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290) Uganda

(3) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed to be under a disability while he or she is an
infant or suffers from mental illness.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), but without prejudice to its generality, a person shall be
conclusively presumed to be suffering from mental illness while he or she is detained in pursuance
of any enactment authorising the detention of persons suffering from mental illness or criminal
lunatics.

(5) A person shall be deemed to claim through another person if he or she became entitled by, through,
under or by the act of that other person to the right claimed; except that a person becoming entitled
to any estate or interest by virtue of a special power of appointment shall not be deemed to claim
through the appointor.

(6) References in this Act to a right of action to recover land shall include references to a right to
enter into possession of the land or, in the case of rent charges, to distrain for arrears of rent, and
references to the bringing of an action in respect of such a right of action shall include references to
the making of such an entry or distress.

(7) References in this Act to the possession of land shall, in the case of rent charges, be construed as
references to the receipt of the rent, and references to the date of dispossession or discontinuance
of possession of land shall, in the case of rent charges, be construed as references to the date of the
last receipt of rent.

(8) In Part III of this Act, references to a right of action shall include references to a cause of action and
to a right to receive money secured by a mortgage or charge on any property or to recover proceeds
of the sale of land, and to a right to receive a share or interest in the personal estate of a deceased
person; and references to the date of the accrual of a right of action shall—

(a) in the case of an action for an account, be construed as references to the date on which the
matter arose in respect of which an account is claimed;

(b) in the case of an action upon a judgment, be construed as references to the date on which the
judgment became enforceable;

(c) in the case of an action to recover arrears of rent or interest, or damages in respect of those
arrears, be construed as references to the date on which the rent or interest became due.

Part II – Periods of limitation for different classes of actions

2. Part II to be subject to provisions of Part III relating to disability, acknowledgment,

fraud, etc.
The provisions of this Part shall have effect subject to the provisions of Part III of this Act, which provide
for the extension of the periods of limitation in the case of disability, acknowledgment, part payment,
fraud and mistake.

Actions of contract and tort and certain other actions

3. Limitation of actions of contract and tort and certain other actions

(1) The following actions shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which
the cause of action arose, that is to say actions—

(a) founded on contract or on tort;

(b) to enforce a recognisance;

(c) to enforce an award;

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(d) to recover any sum recoverable by virtue of any enactment, other than a penalty or forfeiture
or sum by way of penalty or forfeiture, except that in the case of actions for damages for
negligence, nuisance or breach of duty, whether the duty exists by virtue of a contract or
of provision made by or under an enactment or independently of any such contract or any
such provision, where the damages claimed by the plaintiff for the negligence, nuisance or
breach of duty consist of or include damages in respect of personal injuries to any person,
this subsection shall have effect as if for the reference to six years there were substituted a
reference to three years.

(2) An action for an account shall not be brought in respect of any matter which arose more than six
years before the commencement of the action.

(3) An action shall not be brought upon any judgment after the expiration of twelve years from the date
on which the judgment became enforceable, and no arrears of interest in respect of any judgment
debt shall be recovered after the expiration of six years from the date on which the interest became
due.

(4) An action to recover any penalty or forfeiture, or sum by way of penalty or forfeiture, recoverable
by virtue of any enactment shall not be brought after the expiration of two years from the date on
which the cause of action accrued; but for the purposes of this subsection, the expression “penalty”
shall not include a fine to which any person is liable on conviction of a criminal offence.

(5) Subsection (1) shall apply to an action to recover seamen’s wages but, except as provided in this
subsection, this section shall not apply to any cause of action within the admiralty jurisdiction of
the court which is enforceable in rem.

(6) This section shall not apply to any claim for specific performance of a contract or for an injunction
or for other equitable relief, except insofar as any provision of this section may be applied by the
court by analogy in like manner as the periods of limitation in force before the commencement of
this Act have heretofore been applied.

4. Limitation in case of successive conversions and extinction of title of owner of

converted goods
(1) Where any cause of action in respect of the conversion or wrongful detention of a chattel has
accrued to any person and, before he or she recovers possession of the chattel, a further conversion
or wrongful detention takes place, no action shall be brought in respect of the further conversion or
detention after the expiration of six years from the accrual of the cause of action in respect of the
original conversion or detention.

(2) Where any cause of action has accrued to any person and the period prescribed for bringing
an action on it and for bringing any action in respect of such a further conversion or wrongful
detention as aforesaid has expired and he or she has not during that period recovered possession of
the chattel, the title of that person to the chattel shall be extinguished.

Actions to recover land and rents

5. Limitation of actions to recover land

No action shall be brought by any person to recover any land after the expiration of twelve years from the
date on which the right of action accrued to him or her or, if it first accrued to some person through whom
he or she claims, to that person.

6. Accrual of right of action in case of present interests in land

(1) Where the person bringing an action to recover land, or some person through whom he or she
claims, has been in possession of the land, and has while entitled to it been dispossessed or

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discontinued his or her possession, the right of action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date
of the dispossession or discontinuance.

(2) Where any person brings an action to recover any land of a deceased person, whether under a will or
on intestacy, and the deceased person was, on the date of his or her death, in possession of the land
or, in the case of a rent charge created by will or taking effect upon his or her death, in possession
of the land charged, and was the last person entitled to the land to be in possession of the land, the
right of action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date of his or her death.

(3) Where any person brings an action to recover land, being an estate or interest in possession assured
otherwise than by will to him or her, or to some person through whom he or she claims, by a person
who, at the date when the assurance took effect, was in possession of the land or, in the case of a
rent charge created by the assurance, in possession of the land charged, and no person has been
in possession of the land by virtue of the assurance, the right of action shall be deemed to have
accrued on the date when the assurance took effect.

7. Accrual of right of action in case of future interests

(1) Subject to this section, the right of action to recover any land shall, in a case where the estate or
interest claimed was an estate or interest in reversion or remainder or any other future estate or
interest, and no person has taken possession of the land by virtue of the estate or interest claimed,
be deemed to have accrued on the date on which the estate or interest fell into possession by the
determination of the preceding estate or interest.

(2) If the person entitled to the preceding estate or interest, not being a term of years absolute, was
not in possession of the land on the date of the determination of that estate or interest, no action
shall be brought by the person entitled to the succeeding estate or interest after the expiration
of twelve years from the date on which the right of action accrued to the person entitled to the
preceding estate or interest, or six years from the day on which the right of action accrued to the
person entitled to the succeeding estate or interest, whichever period last expires.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to any estate or interest which falls into possession on the
determination of an entailed interest and which might have been barred by the person entitled to
the entailed interest.

(4) No person shall bring an action to recover any estate or interest in land under an assurance taking
effect after the right of action to recover the land had accrued to the person by whom the assurance
was made or some person through whom he or she claimed or some person entitled to a preceding
estate or interest, unless the action is brought within the period during which the person by whom
the assurance was made could have brought such an action.

(5) Where any person is entitled to any estate or interest in land in possession and, while so entitled,
is also entitled to any future estate or interest in that land, and his or her right to recover the estate
or interest in possession is barred under this Act, no action shall be brought by that person, or by
any person claiming through him or her, in respect of the future estate or interest, unless in the
meantime possession of the land has been recovered by a person entitled to an intermediate estate
or interest.

8. Provisions in case of settled land and land held on trust

(1) Subject to section 19(1), this Act shall apply to equitable interests in land, including interests in
the proceeds of the sale of land held upon trust for sale, in like manner as it applies to legal estates,
and accordingly, a right of action to recover the land shall, for the purposes of this Act but not
otherwise, be deemed to accrue to a person entitled in possession to such an equitable interest in
the like manner and circumstances and on the same date as it would accrue if his or her interest
were a legal estate in the land.

(2) Where any land is held upon trust, including a trust for sale, and the period prescribed by this
Act has expired for the bringing of an action to recover the land by the trustees, the estate of the
trustees shall not be extinguished if and so long as the right of action to recover the land of any

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person entitled to a beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of sale either has not accrued
or has not been barred by this Act, but if and when every such right of action has been so barred, the
estate of the trustees shall be extinguished.

(3) Where any land is held upon trust, including a trust for sale, an action to recover the land may
be brought by the trustees on behalf of any person entitled to a beneficial interest in possession
in the land or in he proceeds of sale whose right of action has not been barred by this Act,
notwithstanding that the right of action of the trustees would, apart from this provision, have been
barred by this Act.

(4) Where any settled land or land held on trust for sale is in the possession of a person entitled to a
beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of sale, not being a person solely and absolutely
entitled to the land, no right of action to recover the land shall be deemed for the purposes of this
Act to accrue during such possession to any person in whom the land is vested as trustee or to any
other person entitled to a beneficial interest in the land or the proceeds of sale.

9. Accrual of right of action in case of forfeiture or breach of condition

A right of action to recover land by virtue of a forfeiture or breach of condition shall be deemed to have
accrued on the date on which the forfeiture was incurred or the condition broken; but if such a right
has accrued to a person entitled to an estate or interest in reversion or remainder and the land was not
recovered by virtue of reversion or remainder, the right of action to recover the land shall not be deemed to
have accrued to that person until his or her estate or interest fell into possession, as if no such forfeiture
or breach of condition has occurred.

10. Accrual of right of action in case of certain tenancies

(1) A tenancy at will shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be determined at the expiration
of one year from the commencement of the tenancy, unless it has previously been determined, and,
accordingly, the right of action of the person entitled to the land subject to the tenancy shall be
deemed to have accrued on the date of that determination.

(2) A tenancy from year to year or other period, without a lease in writing, shall, for the purposes
of this Act, be deemed to be determined at the expiration of the first year or other period, and,
accordingly, the right of action of the person entitled to the land subject to the tenancy shall
be deemed to have accrued at the date of that determination; except that where any rent has
subsequently been received in respect of the tenancy, the right of action shall be deemed to have
accrued on the date of the last receipt of rent.

(3) Where any person is in possession of land by virtue of a lease in writing by which a rent of not less
than twenty shillings is reserved, and the rent is received by some person wrongfully claiming to
be entitled to the land in reversion immediately expectant on the determination of the lease, and
no rent is subsequently received by the person rightfully so entitled, the right of action of the last-
named person to recover the land shall be deemed to have accrued at the date when the rent was
first received by the person wrongfully claiming to be entitled to the land in reversion immediately
expectant on the determination of the lease and not at the date of the determination of the lease.

11. Right of action not to accrue or continue unless there is adverse possession
(1) No right of action to recover land shall be deemed to accrue unless the land is in the possession of
a person in whose favour the period of limitation can run, in this section referred to as “adverse
possession”, and where under sections 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 any such right of action is deemed to accrue
on a certain date and no person is in adverse possession on that date, the right of action shall not be
deemed to accrue until adverse possession is taken of the land.

(2) Where a right of action to recover land has accrued and thereafter, before the right is barred, the
land ceases to be in adverse possession, the right of action shall no longer be deemed to have
accrued, and no fresh right of action shall be deemed to have accrued until the land is again taken
into adverse possession.

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290) Uganda

(3) For the purposes of this section—

(a) possession of any land subject to a rent charge by a person, other than the person entitled to
the rent charge, who does not pay the rent shall be deemed to be in adverse possession of the
rent charge; and

(b) receipt of rent under a lease by a person wrongfully claiming, in accordance with section
10(3), the land in reversion shall be deemed to be adverse possession of the land.

12. Cure of defective disentailing assurance

Where a person entitled in remainder to an entailed interest in any land has made an assurance thereof
which fails to bar the issue in fail or the estates and interests taking effect on the determination of the
entailed interest, or fails to bar the last mentioned estates and interests only, and any person takes
possession of the land by virtue of the assurance, and that person or any other person, other than a person
entitled to possession by virtue of the settlement, is in possession of the land for twelve years from the
commencement of the time at which the assurance, if it had then been executed by the person entitled
to the entailed interest, would have operated, without the consent of any other person, to bar the issue
in fail or the estates and interests taking effect on the determination of the entailed interest, then, at the
expiration of that period, the assurance shall operate, and be deemed always to have operated, to bar the
issue in fail and those estates and interests.

13. Limitation of redemption actions

When a mortgagee of land has been in possession of any of the mortgaged land for twelve years, no action
to redeem the land of which the mortgagee has been so in possession shall thereafter be brought by the
mortgagor or any person claiming through him or her.

14. No right of action to be preserved by formal entry or continual claim

For the purposes of this Act, no person shall be deemed to have been in possession of any land by reason
only of having made a formal entry on the land, and no continual or other claim upon or near any land
shall preserve any right of action to recover the land.

15. Administration to date back to death

For the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to actions for the recovery of land, an administrator
of the estate of a deceased person shall be deemed to claim as if there had been no interval of time
between the death of the deceased person and the grant of the letters of administration.

16. Extinction of title after expiration of period

Subject to sections 8 and 29 and subject to the other provisions thereof, at the expiration of the period
prescribed by this Act for any person to bring an action to recover land, including a redemption action, the
title of that person to the land shall be extinguished.

17. Limitation of action to recover rent

No action shall be brought, or distress made, to recover arrears of rent or damages in respect of those
arrears after the expiration of six years from the date on which the arrears became due.

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Actions to recover money secured by mortgage

or charge or to recover proceeds of sale of land

18. Limitation of actions to recover money secured by mortgage or charge or to recover

proceeds of sale of land
(1) No action shall be brought to recover any principal sum of money secured by a mortgage or other
charge on property, whether real or personal, or to recover proceeds of the sale of land, after the
expiration of twelve years from the date when the right to receive the money accrued.

(2) No foreclosure action in respect of mortgaged personal property shall be brought after the
expiration of twelve years from the date on which the right to foreclose accrued; except that if, after
that date, the mortgagee was in possession of the mortgaged property, the right to foreclose on
the property which was in his or her possession shall not, for the purposes of this subsection, be
deemed to have accrued until the date on which his or her possession discontinued.

(3) The right to receive any principal sum of money accrued by a mortgage or other charge and the
right to foreclose on the property subject to the mortgage or charge shall not be deemed to accrue
so long as that property comprises any future interest or any life insurance policy which has not
matured or been determined.

(4) Nothing in this section shall apply to a foreclosure action in respect of mortgaged land, but the
provisions of this Act relating to actions to recover land shall apply to such an action.

(5) No action to recover arrears of interest payable in respect of any sum of money secured by a
mortgage or other charge or payable in respect of proceeds of the sale of land, or to recover
damages in respect of such arrears, shall be brought after the expiration of six years from the date
on which the interest became due; except that—

(a) where a prior mortgagee or other incumbrancer has been in possession of the property
charged and an action is brought within one year of the discontinuance of that possession
by the subsequent incumbrancer, he or she may recover by that action all the arrears of
interest which fell due during the period of possession by the prior incumbrancer or damage
in respect of those arrears, notwithstanding that the period exceeded six years;

(b) where the property subject to the mortgage or charge comprises any future interest or life
insurance policy and it is a term of the mortgage or charge that arrears of interest shall be
treated as part of the principal sum of money secured by the mortgage or charge, interest
shall not be deemed to become due before the right to receive the principal sum of money
has accrued or is deemed to have accrued.

(6) This section shall not apply to any mortgage or charge on a ship.

Actions in respect of trust property or personal estate of deceased persons

19. Limitation of actions in respect of trust property

(1) No period of limitation prescribed by this Act shall apply to an action by a beneficiary under a trust,
being an action—

(a) in respect of any fraud or fraudulent breach of trust to which the trustee was a party or privy;
or

(b) to recover from the trustee trust property or the proceeds of the trust property in the
possession of the trustee, or previously received by the trustee and converted to his or her
use.

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(2) Subject to subsection (1), an action by a beneficiary to recover trust property or in respect of any
breach of trust, not being an action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any other
provision of this Act, shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which
the right of action accrued; but the right of action shall not be deemed to have accrued to any
beneficiary entitled to a future interest in the trust property until the interest fell into possession.

(3) No beneficiary as against whom there would be a good defence under this Act shall derive any
greater or other benefit from the judgment or order obtained by any other beneficiary than he
or she could have obtained if he or she had brought the action and this Act had been pleaded in
defence.

20. Limitation of actions claiming personal estate of deceased person

Subject to section 19(1), no action in respect of any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person or
to any share or interest in such estate, whether under a will or on intestacy, shall be brought after the
expiration of twelve years from the date when the right to receive the share or interest accrued, and no
action to recover arrears of interest in respect of any legacy or damages in respect of those arrears shall be
brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the interest became due.

Part III – Extension of limitation periods in case of disability,

acknowledgment, part payment, fraud and mistake

Disability

21. Extension of limitation period in case of disability

(1) If on the date when any right of action accrued for which a period of limitation is prescribed by this
Act the person to whom it accrued was under a disability, the action may be brought at any time
before the expiration of six years from the date when the person ceased to be under a disability or
died, whichever event first occurred, notwithstanding that the period of limitation has expired;
except that—

(a) this section shall not affect any case where the right of action first accrued to some person,
not under a disability, through whom the person under a disability claims;

(b) when a right of action which has accrued to a person under a disability accrues, on the death
of that person while still under a disability, to another person under a disability, no further
extension of time shall be allowed by reason of the disability of the second person;

(c) no action to recover land or money charged on land shall be brought by virtue of this section
by any person after the expiration of thirty years from the date on which the right of action
accrued to that person or some person through whom he or she claims;

(d) this section shall not apply to any suit to recover a penalty or forfeiture, or sum by way
thereof, by virtue of any enactment, except where the action is brought by an aggrieved
party.

(2) In the case of actions for damages for negligence, nuisance or breach of duty, whether the duty
exists by virtue of a contract or of provision made by or under an enactment or independently of
any contract or any such provision, where the damages claimed by the plaintiff for the negligence,
nuisance or breach of duty consist of or include damages in respect of personal injuries to any
person—

(a) subsection (1) shall have effect as if for the words “six years” there were substituted the
words “three years”; and

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(b) this section shall not apply unless the plaintiff proves that the person under the disability
was not, at the time when the right of action accrued to him or her, in the custody of a
member of his or her family.

(3) For the purposes of this section, “member of his or her family” in relation to any person has the
meaning assigned to “member of the family” in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

Acknowledgment and part payment

22. Fresh accrual of action on acknowledgment or part payment

(1) Where there has accrued any right of action, including a foreclosure action, to recover land or any
right of a mortgagee of personal property to bring a foreclosure action in respect of the property
and—

(a) the person in possession of the land or personal property acknowledges the title of the
person to whom the right of action has accrued; or

(b) in the case of a foreclosure or other action by a mortgagee, the person in possession of the
land or personal property or the person liable for the mortgage debt makes any payment in
respect of it, whether of principal or interest, the right shall be deemed to have accrued on
and not before the date of the acknowledgment or payment.

(2) Subsection (1) shall apply to a right of action to recover land accrued to a person entitled to an
estate or interest taking effect on the determination of an entailed interest against whom time is
running under section 12, and on the making of the acknowledgment that section shall cease to
apply to the land.

(3) Where a mortgagee is by virtue of the mortgage in possession of any mortgaged land and either
receives any sum in respect of the principal or interest of the mortgage debt or acknowledges the
title of the mortgagor, or his or her equity of redemption, an action to redeem the land in his or her
possession may be brought at any time before the expiration of twelve years from the date of the
payment or acknowledgment.

(4) Where any right of action has accrued to recover any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim,
or any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person or to any share or interest in it, and
the person liable or accountable therefor acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in
respect of the claim, the right shall be deemed to have accrued on and not before the date of the
acknowledgment or the last payment; but a payment of a part of the rent or interest due at any time
shall not extend the period for claiming the remainder then due, but any payment of interest shall
be treated as a payment in respect of the principal debt.

23. Formal provisions as to acknowledgments and part payments

(1) Every acknowledgment mentioned in section 22 shall be in writing and signed by the person making
the acknowledgment.

(2) Any acknowledgment or payment mentioned in section 22 may be made by the agent of the person
by whom it is required to be made to the person, or to an agent of the person whose title or claim is
being acknowledged or in respect of whose claim the payment is being made.

24. Effect of acknowledgment or part payment on persons other than maker or recipient
(1) An acknowledgment of the title to any land or mortgaged personalty by any person in possession of
it shall bind all other persons in possession during the ensuing period of limitation.

(2) A payment in respect of a mortgage debt by the mortgagor or any person in possession of the
mortgaged property shall, so far as any right of the mortgagee to foreclose or otherwise to recover

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290) Uganda

the property is concerned, bind all other persons in possession of the mortgaged property during
the ensuing period of limitation.

(3) Where two or more mortgagees are by virtue of the mortgage in possession of the mortgaged
land, an acknowledgment of the mortgagor’s title or of his or her equity of redemption by one of
the mortgagees shall only bind him or her and his or her successors and shall not bind any other
mortgagee or his or her successors, and where the mortgagee by whom the acknowledgment is
given is entitled to a part of the mortgaged land and not to any ascertained part of the mortgage
debt, the mortgagor shall be entitled to redeem that part of the land on payment, with interest, of
the part of the mortgage debt which bears the same proportion to the whole of the debt as the value
of the part of the land bears to the whole of the mortgaged land.

(4) Where there are two or more mortgagors, and the title or right to redemption of one of
the mortgagors is acknowledged in the circumstances referred to in subsection (3), the
acknowledgment shall be deemed to have been made to all the mortgagors.

(5) An acknowledgment of any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim shall bind the acknowledger
and his or her successors but not any other person; except that an acknowledgment made after the
expiration of the period of limitation prescribed for the bringing of an action to recover the debt
or other claim shall not bind any successor on whom the liability devolves on the determination
of a preceding estate or interest in property under a settlement taking effect before the date of the
acknowledgment.

(6) A payment made in respect of any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim shall bind all persons
liable in respect of the debt or other claim; except that a payment after the expiration of the period
of limitation prescribed for the bringing of an action to recover the debt or other claim shall not
bind any person other than the person making the payment and his or her successors, and shall not
bind any successor on whom the liability devolves on the determination of a preceding estate or
interest in property under a settlement taking effect before the date of the payment.

(7) An acknowledgment by one of several personal representatives of any claim to the personal estate
of a deceased person, or to any share or interest in it, or a payment by one of several personal
representatives in respect of any such claim shall bind the estate of the deceased person.

(8) In this section, the expression “successor”, in relation to any mortgagee or person liable in respect
of any debt or claim, means his or her personal representatives and any other person on whom
the rights under the mortgage or, as the case may be, the liability in respect of the debt or claim
devolve, whether on death or bankruptcy or the disposition of property or the determination of a
limited estate or interest in settled property or otherwise.

Fraud and mistake

25. Postponement of limitation period in case of fraud or mistake

Where, in the case of any action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by this Act, either—

(a) the action is based upon the fraud of the defendant or his or her agent or of any person through
whom he or she claims or his or her agent;

(b) the right of action is concealed by the fraud of any such person as is mentioned in paragraph (a); or

(c) the action is for relief from the consequences of a mistake, the period of limitation shall not begin
to run until the plaintiff has discovered the fraud or the mistake, or could with reasonable diligence
have discovered it; but nothing in this section shall enable any action to be brought to recover, or
enforce any charge against, or set aside any transaction affecting, any property which—

(i) in the case of fraud, has been purchased for valuable consideration by a person who was not a
party to the fraud and did not at the time of the purchase know or have reason to believe that
any fraud had been committed; or

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290) Uganda

(ii) in the case of mistake, has been purchased for valuable consideration, subsequently to the
transaction in which the mistake was made, by a person who did not know or have reason to
believe that the mistake had been made.

Part IV – General

26. Application of Act and other limitation enactments to arbitrations

(1) This Act and any other enactment relating to the limitation of actions shall apply to arbitrations as
they apply to actions in the court.

(2) Notwithstanding any term in a submission to the effect that no cause of action shall accrue in
respect of any matter required by the submission to be referred until an award is made under
the submission, the cause of action shall, for the purpose of this Act and of any other enactment
relating to the limitation of actions, whether in their application to arbitrations or to other
proceedings, be deemed to have accrued in respect of any such matter at the time when it would
have accrued but for that term in the submission.

(3) For the purpose of this Act and of any other enactment relating to the limitation of actions, an
arbitration shall be deemed to be commenced when one party to the arbitration serves on the
other party a notice requiring him or her to appoint an arbitrator or to agree to the appointment
of an arbitrator or, where the submission provides that the reference shall be to a person named or
designated in the submission, requiring him or her to submit the dispute to the person so named or
designated.

(4) Any notice referred to in subsection (3) may be served in the manner prescribed by the Civil
Procedure Rules for the service of summonses, as well as in any other manner provided in the
submission.

(5) Where the High Court orders that an award be set aside or orders, after the commencement of an
arbitration, that the arbitration shall cease to have effect with respect to the dispute referred, the
court may further order that the period between the commencement of the arbitration and the date
of the order of the court shall be excluded in computing the time prescribed by this Act or any other
enactment relating to the limitation of actions for the commencement of proceedings, including
arbitration, with respect to the dispute referred.

(6) This section shall apply to an arbitration under an enactment as well as to an arbitration pursuant
to a submission, and subsections (3) and (4) shall have effect, in relation to an arbitration under
an Act, as if for the references to the arbitration agreement there were substituted references to
such of the provisions of the enactment or of any order, scheme, rules, regulations or by-laws made
under the Act as relate to the arbitration.

27. Provisions as to setoff or counterclaim

For the purposes of this Act, any claim by way of setoff or counterclaim shall be deemed to be a separate
action and to have been commenced on the same date as the action in which the setoff or counterclaim is
pleaded.

28. Acquiescence
Nothing in this Act shall affect any equitable jurisdiction to refuse relief on the ground of acquiescence or
otherwise.

29. Application of Act to registered land

Without prejudice to the operation of section 171 of the Registration of Titles Act, which contains
certain provisions relating to the limitation of actions, this Act shall apply to land registered under

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Limitation Act (Chapter 290) Uganda

the Registration of Titles Act in the same manner and to the same extent as it applies to land not so
registered, except that where, if the land were not registered, the estate of the person registered as
proprietor would be extinguished, that estate shall not be extinguished but shall be deemed to be held by
the person registered as proprietor for the time being in trust for the person who, by virtue of this Act,
has acquired title against any person registered as proprietor, but without prejudice to the estates and
interests of any other person interested in the land whose estate or interest is not extinguished by this Act.

30. Application of Act to proceedings by or against Government

Subject to section 31 and the other provisions of this Act, this Act shall apply to proceedings by or against
the Government as they apply to proceedings between private persons.

31. Miscellaneous savings

Nothing in this Act shall—

(a) affect the right of the Uganda Land Commission to public land vested in it by virtue of the
Constitution or of the Public Land Act, Cap. 201 (Revised Edition, 1964) or apply to an action
brought by the Uganda Land Commission to recover possession of such land;

(b) apply to any proceedings by the Government for the recovery of any tax or duty or the interest on it
or to any forfeiture proceedings under the East African Community Customs Management Act or to
any proceedings in respect to the forfeiture of a ship;

(c) apply to any criminal proceedings; or

(d) affect any right to mines and minerals vested in the Government.

32. Saving for other limitation enactments

This Act shall not apply to any action or arbitration for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any
other enactment, or to any action or arbitration to which the Government is a party and for which, if it
were between private persons, a period of limitation would be prescribed by any other enactment.

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