Wakilii

Ekeu and Others v Attorney General (Civil Suit 59 of 2009)

High Court · [2023] UGHCCD 298 · 2023 Judgment for Plaintiffs AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for unpaid terminal benefits following divesture of state-owned enterprise
Decision
Judgment entered for the Plaintiffs with general damages of UGX 3,000,000 per claimant and payment of verified terminal benefits of UGX 6,234,463,628 plus interest

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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.

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 former workers of a divested state-owned enterprise are entitled to general damages and interest on unpaid terminal benefits where government delayed payment for 28 years. Each of 3425 former workers awarded UGX 3,000,000 as general damages to compensate for economic and psychological inconvenience caused by the delay. Court awarded 7% interest per annum on terminal benefits from June 1995 and 10% interest per annum on general damages from date of judgment. Redundancy compensation already paid in 1995 was confirmed by Auditor General's verification.

Outcome

Judgment entered for the Plaintiffs with general damages of UGX 3,000,000 per claimant and payment of verified terminal benefits of UGX 6,234,463,628 plus interest

Facts

3437 former workers of Nyanza Textiles Limited (NYTIL) filed suit in 2009 claiming unpaid terminal benefits following the divesture of NYTIL by government in June 1995. One claimant pursued his claim independently, reducing the verified claimants to 3425. The Auditor General verified the Plaintiffs' terminal benefits at UGX 6,234,463,628 in a report dated 24 February 2022 with an addendum dated 8 November 2022. The Defendant admitted the claim on 13 June 2023. The Plaintiffs contended they had suffered economic hardship, mental anguish and psychological stress for 28 years awaiting payment. Government had paid redundancy benefits of UGX 2,441,538,955 to both unionized and staff workers in 1995 following the divestiture.

Issues

  1. Whether the Plaintiffs are entitled to general damages.
  2. Whether the Plaintiffs are entitled to interest.
  3. Whether the Plaintiffs are entitled to compensation for being declared redundant.
  4. Whether the Plaintiffs are entitled to costs of the suit.

Orders

  • General damages of UGX 3,000,000 (three million shillings) awarded to each of the 3425 Plaintiffs.
  • Interest on general damages at 10% per annum from the date of judgment until payment in full.
  • Plaintiffs entitled to payment of terminal benefits amounting to UGX 6,234,463,628.
  • Interest on terminal benefits at 8% per annum from June 1995 until payment in full.
  • Costs of the suit awarded to the Plaintiffs.

Rules and key headnotes

Employment & Labour — Terminal Benefits — Delay in Payment — General Damages for Economic and Psychological Inconvenience
Where government delays payment of terminal benefits to former employees of a divested state-owned enterprise for 28 years, the affected workers are entitled to general damages to compensate for the economic, mental and emotional inconvenience suffered as a natural and direct consequence of the failure to pay benefits when due.
Damages & Quantum — General Damages — Assessment — Factors to Consider
In assessing general damages, the Court is guided by the value of the subject matter, the economic inconvenience occasioned to the plaintiff, and the nature and extent of the injury suffered. General damages are at large and are assessed on the basis of the injury, suffering and inconvenience caused to the plaintiff.
Administrative Law — Public Enterprise Divestiture — Payment of Employee Benefits — Government Verification Duty
Government is justified and required to undertake all necessary legal precautions to verify and satisfy itself about outstanding claims before authorizing expenditure of public funds. Raising a preliminary objection to verify claims is bonafide conduct and does not constitute wrongful delay warranting punitive damages.
Damages & Quantum — Interest on Terminal Benefits — Accrual Date — Rate
Interest on terminal benefits accrues from the date the right to those benefits arose. Where terminal benefits became due in June 1995, the Court may award interest from that date at a rate that reflects the delay. Interest of 7% per annum on terminal benefits from date of accrual and 10% per annum on general damages from date of judgment is appropriate.
Employment & Labour — Redundancy Compensation — Public Enterprise Reform — Statutory Duty to Pay
Under section 21 of the Public Enterprise Reform and Divestiture Act, the Minister responsible for finance must ensure provision is made for payment of compensation to employees declared redundant following restructuring or liquidation of public enterprises through establishment and operation of a redundancy account. Where redundancy benefits were paid in 1995 following divestiture, no further redundancy compensation is due.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (5)

  • Omunyokol Akol Johnson v Attorney General (SCCA No. 06 of 2012)
  • Kibimba Rice Ltd v Umar Salim (SCCA No. 17 of 1992)
  • Uganda Revenue Authority v Wanume David Katamirike (Civil Appeal No. 43 of 2010)
  • Uganda Commercial Bank v Kigozi (2002) 1 EA 305
  • Impressa Ing. Fortunato Federice v Irene Nabwire (SCCA No. 3 of 2000)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Ekeu and Others v Attorney General (Civil Suit 59 of 2009) [2023] UGHCCD 298 (8 September 2023)
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.