Wakilii

Atlas Logistics Ltd v L'office De Gestion Du Fret Mul Timodal (OGEFREM), A Government Agency of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Reference No.43 of 2023)

East African Court of Justice · [2025] EACJ 17 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Reference to the East African Court of Justice challenging suspension and termination of a freight management services contract as violations of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community and the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market
Decision
Reference dismissed for being filed outside the two-month limitation period prescribed under Article 30(2) of the Treaty

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The East African Court of Justice dismissed the Reference as time-barred. The Court held that the cause of action accrued on 18 February 2022 when the applicant was notified of the suspension of its contractual rights, and the two-month limitation period under Article 30(2) of the Treaty expired on 18 April 2022. The Reference filed on 4 December 2023 was well beyond the prescribed period. The Court rejected the applicant's arguments that the limitation period should run from the date of the domestic court's decision or that the doctrine of continuing violation applied.

Outcome

Reference dismissed for being filed outside the two-month limitation period prescribed under Article 30(2) of the Treaty

Facts

On 25 October 2021, Atlas Logistics Ltd, a Rwandan company, entered into a Special Mandate Contract with OGEFREM, a DRC government agency, to provide freight management services in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. On 18 February 2022, OGEFREM issued written notice suspending the applicant's contractual rights without prior notification. On 20 April 2022, OGEFREM issued a further directive restricting the applicant's access to the operating system, preventing it from performing its contractual obligations. The parties met on 19 August 2022 but no resolution was reached. OGEFREM later communicated that the contract had been terminated following a directive from the DRC Minister of Transport and Communication. The applicant instituted proceedings before the High Court of Kinshasa, which dismissed the claim for lack of jurisdiction. The applicant then filed this Reference on 4 December 2023, invoking the Court's jurisdiction to adjudicate alleged breaches of the Treaty.

Issues

  1. Whether the Reference is time-barred under Article 30(2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.
  2. Whether the Court has jurisdiction to entertain a dispute arising from a commercial agreement that contains no clause conferring jurisdiction on the Court.
  3. Whether the Reference is inadmissible because the cause of action arose before the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the East African Community.
  4. Whether the Applicant is entitled to the reliefs sought.

Orders

  • The Reference is time-barred and is hereby dismissed with costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Limitation of Actions — Jurisdiction Ratione Temporis — Article 30(2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community
The two-month limitation period under Article 30(2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community is strict and inflexible, not amenable to extension, waiver, or suspension, and must be satisfied before the Court enquires into the substantive merits of a Reference.
Limitation of Actions — Accrual of Cause of Action — Effect of Pursuit of Local Remedies
The pursuit of local remedies does not halt or reset the limitation period under Article 30(2) of the Treaty; time starts running from the date the initial action or decision was taken, not from a later date when its effects may have culminated or when a domestic court declines jurisdiction.
Limitation of Actions — Continuing Violation Doctrine — Inapplicability to Article 30(2) of the Treaty
The continuing violation doctrine does not apply to Article 30(2) of the Treaty; once a Treaty violation crystallizes as a cause of action, the two-month countdown begins and is not extended by the persisting consequences of that violation or by a continuing failure to act.
Breach of Contract — Repudiatory Breach — Accrual of Cause of Action
Where a party's actions constitute a repudiatory breach going to the very root of an agreement and rendering further performance impossible, the cause of action accrues at the time of that breach, not at a later date when the breach is confirmed or its consequences become final.

Legislation cited (17)

  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 27
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30(2)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 7(1)(c)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 76(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 82(1)(c)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 97(3)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 104
  • Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market Article 5(1)
  • Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market Article 16(1)
  • Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market Article 16(2)
  • Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market Article 16(3)
  • Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market Article 16(5)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of the Court, 2019 Rule 11
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of the Court, 2019 Rule 25
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of the Court, 2019 Rule 46
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of the Court, 2019 Rule 127(1)

Cases cited (7)

  • Alcon International Ltd v Standard Chartered Bank of Uganda & Others (EACJ Appeal No. 2 of 2011)
  • Attorney General of Kenya v Independent Medical Legal Unit (EACJ Appeal No. 1 of 2011)
  • Attorney General of Uganda & Another v Omar Awadh & 6 Others (EACJ Appeal No. 2 of 2012)
  • Plaxeda Rugumba v Attorney General of Rwanda (EACJ Appeal No. 1 of 2012)
  • Alcon International Ltd v Standard Chartered Bank of Uganda & 2 Others (EACJ Appeal No. 3 of 2013)
  • Wallace v Kato, 549 U.S. 384 (2007)
  • Toussie v United States, 397 U.S. 112 (1970)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Atlas Logistics Ltd v L'office De Gestion Du Fret Mul Timodal (OGEFREM), A Government Agency of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Reference No.43 of 2023) [2025] EACJ 17 (25 November 2025)
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.