Wakilii

Buildmast Engineering Limited v Board Of Governors Of St. Mary’s Ediofe Girls Secondary School (Miscellaneous Cause 101 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGCOMMC 538 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by Notice of Motion seeking court appointment of an adjudicator or declaration that the adjudication clause is inoperative
Decision
Dispute referred to arbitration with ICAMEK appointed as appointing authority for the arbitrator

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court found that a dispute existed between the parties arising from a construction contract. The contractual adjudication clause was declared inoperative because the Centre for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (CADER), designated as the appointing authority, had been abolished and re-established as a department under the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2024 and was not yet fully constituted. The court appointed ICAMEK as the appointing authority to appoint an arbitrator and referred the dispute to arbitration in accordance with the parties' contractual arbitration agreement.

Outcome

Dispute referred to arbitration with ICAMEK appointed as appointing authority for the arbitrator

Facts

On 6th September 2023, the applicant and respondent entered into a construction contract for a storeyed girls' dormitory at St. Mary's Ediofe Girls Secondary School in Arua District. The contract provided that disputes would be referred to an adjudicator appointed by CADER. The applicant mobilized resources and commenced construction. A dispute arose when the applicant alleged the respondent unlawfully denied site access and re-advertised the project without terminating the contract or compensating the applicant. The respondent contended the applicant failed to perform its obligations during the 12-month contract period, absented itself from the site for over 6 months, and the contract expired naturally. The applicant sought court intervention to appoint an adjudicator or declare the adjudication clause inoperative because CADER had been abolished and re-established under the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2024 and was not yet fully constituted.

Issues

  1. Whether there exists a dispute between the parties arising from the construction contract dated 6th September, 2023?
  2. Whether the Applicant is entitled to the Court's intervention to appoint an Adjudicator, or declare the Adjudication clause inoperative, and pursue its claim by way of arbitration or civil proceedings?
  3. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • The dispute between the parties is referred to arbitration.
  • The Court hereby appoints ICAMEK as an appointing authority under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act to appoint an arbitrator.
  • Costs of this application shall abide by the outcome of the arbitration.

Rules and key headnotes

Arbitration & ADR — Adjudication Clauses — Inoperability — Effect of Institutional Restructuring
Where a construction contract designates a specific institution as the appointing authority for an adjudicator and that institution has been abolished and re-established under new legislation but is not yet fully constituted to perform its functions, the adjudication clause becomes inoperative and incapable of being performed.
Arbitration & ADR — Court Intervention — Appointment of Alternative Appointing Authority
Under Section 11(4)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, where the agreed procedure for appointing an arbitrator has become inoperative, the court may appoint an alternative appointing authority recognized under the Act to secure compliance with the parties' arbitration agreement.
Arbitration & ADR — Party Autonomy — Respect for Contractual Arbitration Agreements
The role of the court in arbitration matters is to assist parties by respecting their autonomy and aiding in the achievement of their contractual arbitration agreements, not to impose authority on the parties.
Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Affidavits Containing Falsehoods
Where a preliminary objection alleges that an affidavit contains falsehoods but the challenged averments constitute the applicant's facts constituting its claim which are disputed by the respondent, the objection is pre-emptive of the merits and should fail. False parts of an affidavit that are irrelevant to the matter should be ignored and the rest of the averments considered.
Arbitration & ADR — Existence of Dispute — Breach of Contract Allegations
A dispute exists where one party makes a claim under a contract and the other disputes it. Contentions raising issues of breach of contract on each party amount to a dispute justifying recourse to the contractual dispute resolution mechanism.

Legislation cited (12)

Cases cited (5)

  • Uganda Telecom Ltd v ZTE Corporation (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 3 of 2017)
  • Col. (Rtd) Besigye Kizza v Museveni Yoweri Kaguta & the Electoral Commission (Election Petition No. 1 of 2001)
  • Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Co. v West End [1969] EA 696
  • International Development Consultants Ltd v Jimmy Muyanja & Others (Miscellaneous Cause No. 133 of 2018)
  • AC Yafeng Construction Company Ltd v The Living World Assembly Ltd & 2 Others (Civil Suit No. 739 of 2021)

Full judgment

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

Buildmast Engineering Limited v Board Of Governors Of St. Mary’s Ediofe Girls Secondary School (Miscellaneous Cause 101 of 2025) [2025] UGCommC 538 (21 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.