Here is the process you must follow when swearing an affidavit (statutory declaration) for the transfer of a motor vehicle in Uganda. Once your affidavit is ready, the process of change of ownership of a car becomes easy since the document is mandatory as per Ministry of Works and Transport guides when doing a forced or manual absentee motor vehicle transfer.
You can get a court affidavit in Uganda by submitting all required details to the commissioner of oath, or magistrates court of choice. While a number of reasons can here are a number for such a declaration to be made, this tutorial is for those who want to process a motor vehicle transfer through MoWT in absence of the current owner.
What is an Affidavit?
An affidavit may simply refer to that a “written statement of facts”. According to Uganda laws, the same can also be known as a “Statutory declaration”. In our case, the person who is processing the said order above states to the court how he or she or they are/owns the said physical “motor vehicle”, how one is of sound mind and etc as proof of ownership.
General Requirements for Affidavit
Original/certified Newspaper advert
Police report in case of lost logbook
Original vehicle logbook
Copy of National ID card
Search and certification report for lost logbook
Motor vehicle Inspection report
Depending on why one is processing an affidavit for a change of names for a motor vehicle when the current registered owner is missing, you will be required to attach relevant documents like a national ID photocopy, copy of the logbook, purchase agreement, proof of ownership, etc as you will be requested.
How to process an Affidavit?
Swearing an affidavit is done by a commissioner for oaths, those who are mandated and authorized to “verify such statutory declarations, legal documents, etc”, for example, the Magistrates Court at Nakawa, Buganda road, Kakiri, Mengo, LDC, and others. Visit the commissioner for an oath, or court and submit your documents. Your affidavit will be processed upon payment of all applicable fees.
How much is an affidavit in Uganda?
The cost of an affidavit in Uganda varies depending on where you process the document from. Some commissioners for oath will charge you anywhere between 30,000/= to 100,000/= Uganda shillings or even more than that depending on the purpose.
Other reasons for Affidavit in Uganda
An affidavit in Uganda can be used to solve a number of issues besides the one we have seen above. Other reasons you may require an affidavit include but are not limited to
Change of legal for example names on national ID
Change of names on Passport for example having acquired a new name
Motor vehicle transfers for example your ID not matching with names on your TIN
Change of names on Academic documents
Issues to do Bank account name changes
Judicial proceedings
Family court issues, etc
Final Word
Issues to do with affidavit swearing can be processed well once all of the requirements have been met. The process takes a few hours to a few days to be completed depending on where you go, and the availability of the Judge or commissioner for oaths to make it. For motor vehicle transfers, the statutory declaration must be attached to the court order before submitting the documents to the MoWT office in Nakawa.
