A Kampala court has ordered a local group administrator of the popular centralised instant messaging and voice US app, WhatsApp, to reinstate a member who was allegedly kicked out without his consent.
Acting Senior Grade One Magistrate at Makindye Magistrate’s Court in Kampala, Mr Igga Adiru on Monday ordered Allan Asinguza, the respondent in the case, to reinstate Mr Herbert Baitwababo to the ‘BUYANJA ROOTS’ Whatsapp group where he was previously a member.
“A permanent injunction doth issue restraining the respondent, his agents and or his assignees from further infringing on the applicant’s right of association. No orders as to costs,” Mr Adiru ruled in the absence of the respondent.
In support of his application, Mr Baitwababo had stated that Mr Asinguza had created a WhatsApp group for the people of Buyanja sub-county called ‘BUYANJA MY ROOTS’, whose purpose was to provide social contributions for charity work, condolences and support for victims of disasters.
“As members of the said WhatsApp groups, we developed an idea of starting an association and agreed that one had to pay Shs30,000 only, to subscribe for the membership and as such, I fully registered,” reads in part Mr Baitwababo’s affidavit.
“All communication and matters concerning the association were conveyed through the WhatsApp group,” he added.
Mr Baitwababo further stated that on May 16, 2023, as a registered member of the said association, he wrote a letter to Mr Asinguza requesting him to use the instrument mandating them to manage the affairs of the group, an audit report and an account of the monies collected from the registered members since 2017 when the group was formed.
He states that as a result of this letter, Mr Asinguza instead kicked him out of the WhatsApp group on May 17, thus his (Asinguza’s) actions were calculated to violate his (Baitwababo’s) right to association and to unjustly enrich himself.
Mr Baitwababo then sought the protection of the court by way of an order directing Mr Asinguza to reinstate him to the group and an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondent from removing him from the group in the interest of substantive justice.
