Naikoba v National Medical Stores (Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 366 of 2020)

Court of Appeal · [2021] UGCA 22 · 2021 Application Partly Allowed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Application under the slip rule to review and correct the Court of Appeal's judgment in Civil Appeal No. 173 of 2013

Decision

Application allowed in part; the orders in Civil Appeal No. 173 of 2013 amended to correct clerical errors, save that interest on the NSSF contribution was refused as outside the slip rule.

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Court of Appeal held that the slip rule (rule 36(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules) permits correction of clerical or arithmetical errors and accidental slips or omissions only to give effect to the court's intention at the time of judgment. It corrected the conflicting costs orders, the inconsistent judgment dates, and the duplicated and misplaced interest awards (applying 25% on earned monies including withheld salary arrears). It declined to add interest on the NSSF contribution, holding that doing so would require it to sit in appeal over its own judgment, a matter on which it was functus officio. The application was allowed for the most part and the orders in Civil Appeal No. 173 of 2013 were amended accordingly.

Facts

Following the Court of Appeal's judgment in Civil Appeal No. 173 of 2013 (National Medical Stores v Rosie Naikoba), the applicant Naikoba sought correction of several inconsistencies in the judgment under the slip rule. The judgment recorded conflicting costs orders (4/5 at page 33 but 3/4 at page 39), differing salary arrears figures (12,324,659/= versus 9,900,000/=), duplicated interest awards on award No. 1 at both 25% and 6%, interest at 6% rather than 25% on withheld salary arrears, differing dates between the lead and concurring rulings, and an absence of any interest award on the NSSF contribution. The applicant contended these were clerical or arithmetical errors not reflecting the court's intention. The respondent agreed as to certain grounds but resisted others, arguing the court was functus officio and that the requested changes exceeded the slip rule's scope.

Issues

Whether the conflicting costs orders, salary arrears figures, judgment dates and interest rates in the judgment could be corrected under the slip rule.
Whether the omission to award interest on the NSSF contribution could be corrected under the slip rule or required an appeal.

Orders

Application allowed for the most part.
Orders in Civil Appeal No. 173 of 2013 amended.
Award No. 4 (Shs 9,900,000/= withheld salary arrears) confirmed; figure not corrected to 12,324,659/=.
Interest at 25% p.a from date of dismissal allowed on awards 1, 2, 3 and 4 (under amended award No. 6).
Interest at 6% p.a from date of judgment limited to general damages (award No. 7) under amended award No. 8.
Costs amended to 4/5 of costs in the Court of Appeal and 3/4 of costs in the High Court.
Request to add interest on NSSF contribution (award No. 5) refused as beyond the slip rule.
Each party to bear its own costs of the application.

Key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Slip Rule — Scope of correction of clerical and arithmetical errors

Under rule 36(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules, a clerical or arithmetical mistake or an accidental slip or omission may be corrected only where the court is satisfied it is giving effect to its intention at the time judgment was given, or, for a matter overlooked, where it is satisfied beyond doubt as to the order it would have made.

Civil Procedure — Functus Officio — Limits on a court reviewing its own judgment

A court that has duly pronounced a final judgment is functus officio and cannot under the slip rule correct a matter that would require it to sit in appeal over its own decision; such matters must be challenged by appeal.

Civil Procedure — Slip Rule — Omission to award interest

The omission to award interest on a head of damages is not a clerical or arithmetical error correctable under the slip rule where the award of interest is a matter of judicial discretion; the remedy lies in appeal.

Employment & Labour — Interest on earned remuneration — Date interest runs

Monies already earned by an employee at the time of wrongful dismissal, such as gratuity, earned leave and withheld salary arrears, attract interest at the awarded rate running from the date of dismissal rather than the date of judgment.

Legislation cited (5)

Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI-13-10 r.2
Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI-13-10 r.36(1)
Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI-13-10 r.43
Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules SI-13-10 r.33(11)
Civil Procedure Act s.26

Cases cited (13)

Kwizera Eddie v Attorney General (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 2008)
Vallasadhas karasandhas Raniga vs Mansukar Jivraj & others (1965) EA 700
Uganda Development Bank Ltd v Oil Seeds (U) Ltd (Civil Application No. 15 of 1997)
Lakhamshi Brothers ltd vs R Raja and sons [1966] EA 313
Kenlloyd Logistics (U) Ltd v Kalson Agrovet Concerns Ltd (Civil Suit No. 185 of 2010)
crescent transportation Co. Ltd vs BM Technical services ltd CA 25/200
Ahmed Kawoya Kanga vs Banga Aggrey Fred [2007] KALR 164
Fang Min v Kaijuka Mutabaazi Emmanuel (Civil Application No. 6 of 2009)
Orient Bank v Fredrick Zabwe (Civil Application No. 17 of 2007)
John Sanyu Katuramu and 49 Others v Attorney General (Constitutional Application No. 1 of 2016)
Goodman Agencies Ltd v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 3 of 2008)
Magdeline Makinta vs Fostina Nkwe, Court of Appeal No. 26/2001
Odneste Monanyana vs The State, Criminal Appeal No.8 of 2001 (unreported)

Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.