Liberty as Collateral: The Detention of Individuals Arising out of Commercial Transactions by Would Be Creditors and the Right to Personal Liberty under Article 23 of the Constitution of Uganda

When a commercial relationship sours in Uganda, the debtor's body can become the creditor's most persuasive instrument. This article examines two routes by which that happens: the lawful route of civil imprisonment ordered by a court in execution of a money decree, and the unlawful route of a creditor who enlists the police to arrest a debtor on a complaint that discloses no crime. It asks whether either route can be reconciled with the right to personal liberty protected by Article 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995. Drawing on the constitutional text, the Civil Procedure Act and Rules, the Police Act and recent decisions of the High Court, including Bandonda Nicholas v Captain Investments Ltd and Attorney General, KCB Bank Ltd v Gichohi, Nkabirwa Samuel v Vegol Ltd and Kopia v Kintu, the article argues that the Constitution permits detention in a commercial dispute only in narrow, court supervised circumstances reserved for debtors who can pay and will not; that police arrest at a creditor's instigation is unconstitutional where no known offence is disclosed and no reasonable suspicion exists; and that the remedies available, though real, are too weak to deter. It closes with reforms directed at the police, the courts, Parliament and creditors, and draws comparative lessons from England, South Africa and India.