Wakilii

El Termewy v Awdi & Ors (Civil Suit No. 95 of 2012)

High Court · [2015] UGHCCD 4 · 2015 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for breach of employment contract and damages, heard ex parte after defendants failed to appear
Decision
Judgment entered for plaintiff with declaration, damages and costs awarded as specified

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 20 (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 20 times with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. Citations rising — 24 citing cases on record, 20 in the most recent three data years. 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 defendants breached the employment contract by failing to pay agreed wages and allowances, misrepresenting the plaintiff's role, confiscating his passport, and subjecting him to appalling working conditions. The plaintiff was declared a trafficked person under the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009 as he was recruited through deceit regarding his duties and entitlements. The court awarded special damages for unpaid wages and allowances, general damages for physical inconvenience and suffering, and punitive damages to deter oppressive conduct by employers who recruit foreign workers and subject them to inhuman treatment.

Outcome

Judgment entered for plaintiff with declaration, damages and costs awarded as specified

Facts

Ahmed El Termewy, a Lebanese national, was recruited by Awdi Sonic (U) Ltd in May 2011 to work as a manager in Uganda. His employment contract and board resolution specified his role, salary structure (5% of profit, USD 500-1100 monthly depending on tenure), and entitlement to housing, transport, food and telecom allowances. Upon arrival in Uganda in June 2011, he was assigned different erratic duties including marketer, imports manager, shop attendant and distributor instead of managerial work. He was accommodated in a warehouse rather than provided housing allowance. His passport was confiscated. When he resigned in January 2012, defendants refused to pay his emoluments. Plaintiff sought help from Ministry of Gender, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Uganda Human Rights Commission, but defendants ignored all intervention attempts. Defendants instead used security organs to harass plaintiff and instituted a frivolous criminal case that was abandoned after plaintiff complained to DPP. Plaintiff worked from June 2011 to January 2012 without receiving agreed wages and allowances. Defendants were served by substituted service but never appeared, and case proceeded ex parte.

Issues

  1. Whether the defendant breached the plaintiff's contract of employment.
  2. What remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

  • A declaration that the plaintiff is a trafficked person.
  • Special damages to a tune of UGX 2,999,000 and USD 2,666.
  • General damages to a tune of UGX 20,000,000 to the plaintiff.
  • Punitive damages to a tune of UGX 20,000,000 to the plaintiff.
  • Interest on special, general and punitive damages at the court rate from the date of judgment till payment in full.
  • Costs of the suit to the plaintiff.

Rules and key headnotes

Employment & Labour — Breach of Employment Contract — Material Terms — Non-Payment of Wages and Allowances
An employer who fails to pay agreed wages, allowances and benefits as specified in an employment contract and board resolution commits a breach of contract.
Human Rights — Trafficking in Persons — Definition — Recruitment Through Deceit
Under the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009 s.2(r), a person recruited through deceit regarding their duties and entitlements, transported to another country, and subjected to exploitation qualifies as a trafficked person where the recruitment involved fraud or deception to achieve consent for purposes of exploitation.
Employment & Labour — Trafficking in Employment Context — Misrepresentation of Role and Confiscation of Passport
Where an employee is hired as a manager but assigned erratic duties as marketer, imports manager, shop attendant and distributor, promised housing allowance but accommodated in a warehouse, and has their passport confiscated, such conduct constitutes recruitment through deceit and harboring for purposes of exploitation under trafficking legislation.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Employment Breach — Unpaid Wages and Allowances
In a breach of employment contract case, special damages are recoverable for unpaid salary, housing allowance, food allowance, sustenance allowance, overtime pay, transport allowance and repatriation fees where these amounts are specified in the employment agreement or board resolution and the breach is established.
Damages & Quantum — Punitive Damages — Breach of Employment Contract — Availability
Punitive or exemplary damages are awardable in breach of employment contract cases where the breach involves oppressive, high-handed or malicious conduct by the defendant, particularly where an employer recruits a foreign worker and subjects them to inhuman treatment and callous conditions, as such damages serve to deter similar conduct and punish egregious misconduct.
Damages & Quantum — Punitive Damages — Employment Context — Trafficking and Exploitation
Punitive damages focus on the defendant's misconduct rather than the plaintiff's injury, and are awarded with restraint in exceptional cases to appease the victim, discourage revenge, warn society that similar conduct is an affront to decency, and prevent unjust enrichment, though punishment ought as much as possible to be confined to criminal law.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (3)

  • Kampala District Land Board & George Mitala v Venansio Babweyana (Civil Appeal No. 2 of 2007)
  • Obongo v Municipal Council of Kisumu [1971] EA 91
  • Uganda Revenue Authority v Wanume David Katamirike (SCCA No. 3 of 1993)

Cases citing this judgment (20)

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.

El Termewy v Awdi & Ors (Civil Suit No. 95 of 2012) [2015] UGHCCD 4 (30 January 2015)
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.