Wakilii

Uganda Electricity Board v G.W. Musoke (Civil Appeal 30 of 1993)

Supreme Court · [1994] UGSC 4 · 1994 Appeal Allowed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from a High Court award of general damages in a fatal-accident negligence suit decided on formal proof after interlocutory judgment
Decision
Appeal allowed; High Court general-damages award set aside and replaced with Shs 1,000,000 for loss of expectation of life

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Cited — treatment unverified cited in 8 (treatment unverified) Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

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Holding

The Supreme Court held that damages under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act are recoverable only by family members who were dependants of the deceased and suffered pecuniary loss; the deceased's siblings, not being dependants, were wrongly awarded damages. Loss of services was not established, as ordinary domestic tasks done by a child have no compensable pecuniary value absent proof, and the court could not take judicial notice of an unproven custom that children support their parents. Damages for loss of expectation of life compensate loss of prospective happiness and must be moderate; the Shs 5.5 million award was inordinately high. Appeal allowed and the award reduced to Shs 1,000,000.

Facts

On 30 August 1988, the respondent's son Bosco Mwanje, aged 14, was electrocuted when he stepped on the appellant's live electric cables left lying on the ground in Lugazi township. The respondent brought an action in negligence under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act on behalf of himself and his family, claiming special and general damages for the loss arising from his son's death. The appellant failed to enter an appearance or file a defence; interlocutory judgment was entered and the matter proceeded to formal proof for assessment of damages. The High Court awarded a total of Shs 12,690,000 — comprising Shs 190,000 special damages for funeral expenses, Shs 5.5 million for loss of expectation of life, and Shs 7 million for loss of services — and apportioned the general damages among the deceased's parents and several brothers and sisters. The deceased was in Primary 4 and reportedly did well at school; the only evidence of services rendered was that he had been sent to buy bread.

Issues

  1. Whether general damages under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act may be awarded to members of the deceased's family, such as his brothers and sisters, who were not dependants of the deceased.
  2. Whether damages for loss of services were properly awarded where they were neither specifically pleaded nor proved to be of pecuniary value.
  3. Whether the court could take judicial notice, under section 55 of the Evidence Act, of a custom that African children support their parents in old age.
  4. Whether the award of Shs 5.5 million for loss of expectation of life was excessive.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed.
  • Award of general damages made by the High Court set aside.
  • Award of Shs 1,000,000 substituted as general damages for loss of expectation of life, apportioned Shs 600,000 to the respondent and Shs 400,000 to the deceased's mother.
  • Costs of the appeal awarded to the appellant.

Key headnotes

Tort Law — Fatal Accidents — Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act — Persons entitled to damages
Although section 8 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act refers to 'members of the family', damages under the Act are recoverable only by those family members who were dependants of the deceased and who suffered pecuniary loss as a result of his death.
Damages & Quantum — Fatal Accidents — Loss of services — Proof of pecuniary value
Ordinary domestic tasks performed by a child as part of family life have no pecuniary value compensable as loss of services unless there is evidence that, but for the child, the services would have had to be paid for; a claimant must prove an actual pecuniary loss, not a fanciful or speculative one.
Evidence — Judicial notice — Custom — Section 55 of the Evidence Act
A court cannot take judicial notice of a custom, such as that educated children support their parents in old age, where the custom is neither notorious nor documented; its existence must be established by evidence by the party relying on it.
Damages & Quantum — Loss of expectation of life — Principles of assessment
Damages for loss of expectation of life are compensation for the loss of prospective happiness and not for loss of future pecuniary prospects; they must be assessed on common-sense principles at a very moderate figure, particularly for a young child whose future is uncertain.
Damages & Quantum — Appellate interference with awards
An appellate court will interfere with a trial court's award of damages where the trial judge took into account wrong factors or applied wrong principles and thereby arrived at a wholly erroneous estimate of the damages, or where the award is so inordinately high as to call for interference.

Legislation cited (8)

  • Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Cap.74) s.2
  • Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Cap.74) s.7
  • Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Cap.74) s.8
  • Workmen's Compensation Act (Cap.107) First Schedule
  • Evidence Act (Cap.43) s.55
  • Fatal Accidents Act 1846 (England)
  • Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (England)
  • Administration of Justice Act 1982 (England)

Cases cited (12)

  • Kassam v Kampala Aerated Water Company Ltd (1961) EA 291
  • Baker v Bolton (1808) 1 Camp 493
  • Admiralty Commissioners v S.S. America [1917] AC 38
  • Sabani Kibenga v Crispus Juko (Civil Suit No. 35 of 1966) (1972) HCB 65
  • Kimani v Gikanga & Another (1965) EA 735
  • Wilson Kabega v Uganda Transport Company Ltd (Civil Suit No. 434 of 1970)
  • Nasari Kasansula v Rai Singh & Another (Civil Case No. 274 of 1960)
  • Suleimani Muwanga v Walji Bhemji Jiwani & Another (1964) EA 177
  • Barnett v Cohen [1921] 2 KB 461
  • Benham v Gambling [1941] 1 All ER 7
  • Channan Singh & Another v Channan Singh & Another (1955) 22 EACA 125
  • Kimothia v Bhamra Tyre Retreaders & Another (1971) EA 81
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.