The High Court in Kampala has ordered a senior Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) official to pay a fellow employee UGX 100 million in damages for defaming him, by falsely linking him to a shooting incident in messages shared on a senior management WhatsApp group.
In the judgement dated June 17th, Justice Bonny Isaac Teko, found that James Abola, who was then serving as URA’s Assistant Commissioner for Staff Compliance, published damaging and unverified allegations about tax auditor Nicholas Jjengo, linking him to a shooting incident and portraying him as a violent and immoral individual.
The case stems from messages Abola posted on the URA Senior Management WhatsApp forum on September 18 2022, in which he identified Jjengo by name and claimed police were searching for him over an alleged shooting.
In one of the messages, Abola said that Kasangati Police were looking for “Jjengo Nicholas, a Customs Officer” who had allegedly fired three bullets at victims the previous night.
He further claimed that Jjengo had pursued another vehicle and opened fire after a woman refused to get into his car following a social outing.
Jjengo sued for libel, arguing that the allegations were entirely false and gravely injured his reputation before his superiors, peers and the wider URA community.
He further told the court that the messages portrayed him as a wanted criminal, a violent gunman, an irresponsible public officer and an immoral married man.
However in his defence, Abola stated that he had received the information from ASP Patrick Lumumba Okello, an officer attached to the Staff Compliance Division, concerning a serious firearm incident allegedly involving Jjengo and shared it in good faith as part of his official duties.
Abola further argued that the communication was protected by qualified privilege since it concerned a matter of legitimate interest to URA management.
However, Justice Teko ruled that the publications went far beyond a routine internal alert, noting that the first message clearly conveyed that Jjengo was a wanted suspect in a shooting, describing it as a serious accusation of criminality and violence.
Justice Teko further criticised the second message for introducing an unnecessary and sensational account involving jealousy, a woman and gun violence.
While acknowledging that Abola had a legitimate responsibility to report serious allegations involving a member of staff, Justice Teko ruled that such a duty did not justify circulating unverified claims or adding details that had not been confirmed.
Evidence presented before the court showed that after the messages were circulated, several senior URA officials sought clarification from Jjengo and were informed that the claims were false. Despite this, the court found no evidence that Abola made reasonable efforts to verify the information before sharing it.
Justice Teko also dismissed the argument that repeating allegations from another source absolves a person of responsibility, ruling that a publisher remains liable for defamatory statements, particularly where the accusations are serious and can easily be verified.
While delivering his ruling, Justice Teko found that Abola’s statements on September 18th, 2022 concerning Jjengo on the URA Senior Management WhatsApp forum were defamatory.
Justice Teko ordered Abola to pay Jjengo UGX 70 million for general damages for libel and an additional UGX 30 million in exemplary damages.
He further ordered Abola to issue a written apology to Jjengo on the URA Senior Management WhatsApp forum within 14 days from the date of the judgment and restrained him from publishing defamatory information about Jjengo again.
“The Defendant is permanently restrained from further publishing the same or substantially similar defamatory allegations concerning the Plaintiff save where publication is made lawfully, in good faith, upon proper verification, and within the Defendant’s official mandate” he said.
