Wakilii

Edirisa Kerenget Musiwa v Paul Mtambo (Civil Suit No. 682 of 2002)

High Court · [2004] UGCOMMC 14 · 2004 Judgment for Plaintiff — Partial Award AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for recovery of money loaned; interlocutory judgment entered after defence struck off; hearing for formal proof
Decision
Judgment for Plaintiff with special damages awarded but no general damages or costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court awarded the Plaintiff special damages of UGX 3,574,750 being the balance outstanding after the Defendant sold his motor vehicle to set off a loan debt, despite inconsistencies between documentary evidence and oral testimony regarding the sequence of events. General damages were refused because the Plaintiff's counsel had waived that prayer and provided insufficient material to enable the court to assess damages. Costs were not awarded because counsel failed to discover documentary inconsistencies that wasted court time.

Outcome

Judgment for Plaintiff with special damages awarded but no general damages or costs

Facts

In April 2002, the Plaintiff lent the Defendant UGX 8,574,750 secured by the Defendant's Sony TV and a Toyota Corona motor vehicle. The parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 12 April 2002 acknowledging the debt and agreeing that a surcharge of UGX 1,500,000 would be payable if payment was not made by 15 May 2002. The Defendant failed to pay. The Plaintiff claimed the Defendant subsequently agreed to sell the motor vehicle to him for UGX 6,500,000 to set off the debt. However, the Agreement for Sale of Motor Vehicle produced in evidence was dated 5 October 2001, several months before the loan agreement. The Defendant's defence was struck off for being filed out of time and interlocutory judgment was entered. At the hearing for formal proof, the Plaintiff claimed the balance of UGX 3,574,750 after deducting the vehicle sale price from the total debt of UGX 10,074,750.

Issues

  1. Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to recover the balance claimed after set-off from the sale of the Defendant's motor vehicle.
  2. Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to general damages for breach of contract.
  3. Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to costs of the suit.

Orders

  • Judgment entered in favour of the Plaintiff against the Defendant.
  • Special damages of UGX 3,574,750 awarded.
  • No order as to general damages.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Documentary Evidence — Best Evidence Rule — Conflict between Oral and Documentary Evidence
Where there are inconsistencies between oral and documentary evidence and no evidence is adduced to challenge the authenticity of the documents tendered, documentary evidence must be given precedence over oral evidence in accordance with the best evidence rule.
Evidence — Special Damages — Proof Required
Special damages must be strictly proved but need not be supported by documentary evidence in all cases.
Evidence — Parol Evidence Rule — Section 91 Evidence Act
When the terms of a contract have been reduced to the form of a document, no evidence shall be given in proof of the terms of that contract except the document itself or secondary evidence of its contents in cases where secondary evidence is admissible.
Damages — General Damages — Duty of Counsel to Provide Material for Assessment
In an action for damages, one of the duties of counsel is to put before the court material which would enable it to arrive at a reasonable figure by way of damages, and counsel owes a duty to both their clients and to the court to help it arrive at a reasonable award.
Civil Procedure — Costs — Discretion of Court — Wasted Costs
The court has discretion under section 27(1) of the Civil Procedure Act to determine by whom and to what extent costs are to be paid, and may depart from the general rule that costs follow the event where counsel could have prevented the wasting of court time by discovering documentary inconsistencies before trial.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (4)

  • W. M. Kyambadde v Mpigi District Administration [1983] HCB 44
  • Hodge Industrial Securities v Cooper [1962] 1 WLR 209
  • Omychund v Barker (1744) 1 Atk 21
  • Fulugensio Semako v Edirisa Ssebugwawo [1979] HCB 15

Full judgment

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

Edirisa Kerenget Musiwa v Paul Mtambo (Civil Suit No. 682 of 2002) [2004] UGCommC 14 (1 June 2004)
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.