Wakilii

Birumi Wilson v Akamba (U) Ltd. (Civil Suit No. 152 of 1991)

High Court · [1993] UGHC 91 · 1993 Judgment for Defendant AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for breach of contract and damages
Decision
Suit dismissed with costs to the defendant

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (treatment unverified) Sequitur — Uganda’s citator · Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

No adverse treatment recorded Cited 1 time with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — a deterministic signal, not legal advice.

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

Held that no contract existed between the plaintiff and the defendant company, who acted merely as a facilitator. The contract of sale was between the plaintiff and Massey Ferguson (UK) directly. The defendant, not being a party to the contract, was not liable for the nine-month delay in delivery of the tiller. Special damages claimed by the plaintiff were not strictly proved. The suit was dismissed with costs to the defendant.

Outcome

Suit dismissed with costs to the defendant

Facts

The plaintiff, a sugar cane farmer, obtained an agricultural loan to purchase farming equipment including a tractor, plough, and tiller. He approached the defendant company, local agents of Massey Ferguson (UK), who did not have the items in stock but advised on models and assisted the plaintiff to obtain pro-forma invoices directly from the UK supplier. The plaintiff's bank opened irrevocable letters of credit in favour of Massey Ferguson (UK). Four months later, the defendant received their own consignment and delivered a tractor and plough to the plaintiff from that stock, on the understanding that the plaintiff's order would replace these items when it arrived. The tiller ordered by the plaintiff did not arrive until nine months later due to shipping delays at Mombasa port. The plaintiff sued the defendant for breach of contract claiming damages for late delivery.

Issues

  1. Whether there was a contract between the plaintiff and the defendant.
  2. Whether the defendant undertook to deliver the tractor to the plaintiff within three months from the date of the agreement.
  3. Whether the plaintiff suffered any loss as a result of the delay in delivery.
  4. Whether the defendant was liable for the delay in the delivery of the tiller.
  5. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to the remedies claimed.

Orders

  • Suit dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the defendant.

Rules and key headnotes

Contract Law — Formation — Essential Elements — Offer, Acceptance, Consideration
The three essential elements of a simple contract are offer, acceptance, and consideration. To determine whether a prima facie contract exists, the court must establish the presence of all three elements.
Contract Law — Privity of Contract — Local Agent as Facilitator
Where a local agent of a foreign manufacturer merely assists a buyer to procure pro-forma invoices directly from the foreign supplier, and payment is made by the buyer directly to the foreign supplier via letters of credit, the contract of sale is between the buyer and the foreign supplier. The local agent, not being a party to the contract, cannot be held liable for breach of that contract.
Contract Law — Agency — Authority to Contract on Behalf of Principal
For a local agent to be liable under a contract with a buyer, there must be evidence showing that the agent contracted with the buyer directly or on behalf of the principal, or that the agent was in some way a party to the contract. Mere facilitation of contact between buyer and supplier is insufficient to establish contractual liability.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Standard of Proof
Special damages must be strictly proved. While documentary evidence is not always necessary and cogent oral evidence may suffice, mere assertion of expenses without naming the persons from whom services were hired or providing sufficient detail casts doubt on the reliability and cogency of the evidence and will result in failure to prove the claim.
Damages & Quantum — Assessment — Measure of Loss for Non-Delivery
Where machinery intended for use in a commercial farming operation is delivered late, the measure of general damages is the rate of hiring equivalent machinery per day for the period it would have been used had it been timely delivered, rather than speculative calculations of lost profits.

Cases cited (1)

  • Parkars Music & Sports House v Motodil Ltd (1959) EA 554

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

Full judgment

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

Birumi Wilson v Akamba (U) Ltd. (Civil Suit No. 152 of 1991) [1993] UGHC 91 (5 November 1993)
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.