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Geses Uganda Limited v Rubabo Peoples Cooperative Savings & Credit Society (Miscellaneous Application 39 of 2022)

High Court · [2023] UGHC 440 · 2023 Application Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to set aside arbitral award and for extension of time
Decision
Arbitral award partially modified: principal refund amount upheld, interest rate reduced from 20% to 10% per annum, general damages reduced from UGX 50,000,000 to UGX 10,000,000

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court partially allowed an application to set aside an arbitral award. The court found that the applicant had received notice of the award in 2018 and was time-barred from challenging it under section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, but proceeded to determine the merits in the interest of justice. The court upheld the principal award of UGX 182,544,403 as properly based on evidence of payments made. However, the court modified the award by reducing the interest rate from 20% per annum to 10% per annum, finding the 20% rate to be a typographical error, and reduced general damages from UGX 50,000,000 to UGX 10,000,000 as excessive.

Outcome

Arbitral award partially modified: principal refund amount upheld, interest rate reduced from 20% to 10% per annum, general damages reduced from UGX 50,000,000 to UGX 10,000,000

Facts

The Respondent, a cooperative society, contracted the Applicant company to construct its head office building at Nyarushanje Sub-County, Rukungiri District for UGX 160,000,000 under an agreement dated 15 June 2013. Before completion, the Respondent discovered shoddy construction work. The parties failed to resolve the dispute amicably. The Respondent filed Civil Suit No. 43/2015 at the High Court of Uganda at Kabale. The High Court referred the matter to arbitration pursuant to an arbitration clause in the parties' agreement. Rev. Bikangiso Ezrah was appointed arbitrator. The tribunal heard the parties and delivered its award on 2 October 2018. The award was registered as a decree on 16 December 2021. The Applicant was served notice to show cause why a warrant of arrest should not issue in execution. The Applicant then filed this application seeking extension of time and to set aside the arbitral award.

Issues

  1. Whether time to hear the application should be extended.
  2. Whether the arbitration award dated 2nd October 2018 should be set aside.
  3. Whether costs of the application should be provided.

Orders

  • The Applicant is to refund all the money paid for the construction of the office building which was recommended for demolition totalling UGX 182,544,403.
  • Interest of 10% per annum from the time the case was filed in Court in 2015 until payment in full.
  • The Respondent is awarded general damages of UGX 10,000,000 to cater for the inconvenience suffered.
  • Award ¾ of the costs taxed to the Respondent as its workers/servants were negligent in paying the Respondent without a certificate of completion and paying advances contrary to the construction agreement.
  • The tribunal sat for 10 times at the rate of UGX 300,000 per sitting. This money shall be paid by the Applicant but it will be part of the money she will claim against her servants.
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Arbitration & ADR — Setting Aside Arbitral Awards — Time Limits — Section 34(3) Arbitration and Conciliation Act
An application for setting aside an arbitral award may not be made after one month has elapsed from the date on which the party making that application received the arbitral award. Where a party was present when the award was read in open court and engaged in post-award settlement discussions, the party cannot claim to have learned of the award only when served with execution proceedings years later.
Arbitration & ADR — Grounds for Setting Aside — Fair Hearing — Section 34(2)(a)(iii) Arbitration and Conciliation Act
An arbitral award will not be set aside on grounds of denial of fair hearing where the record shows that the applicant was legally represented, participated in the proceedings, presented evidence through its managing director who testified and was cross-examined, and had a representative present when the award was delivered.
Arbitration & ADR — Modification of Awards — Typographical Errors — Interest Rates
A court may modify an arbitral award where it contains a clerical mistake or an error arising from an accidental slip or omission. An award of interest on interest at 20% per annum may be corrected as a typographical error and replaced with a fair interest rate of 10% per annum where the error does not go to the root of the award.
Damages & Quantum — General Damages — Assessment — Excessiveness
Where an arbitrator awards general damages that are high and excessive, a court may set aside that portion of the award and substitute a lower sum that is fair given the circumstances of the case.
Arbitration & ADR — Quantum Awards — Pleadings and Evidence
An arbitrator's award of a specific sum is not beyond the scope of the reference merely because that precise figure was not pleaded, where the award is based on evidence of payment receipts properly tendered and admitted during the arbitral proceedings.

Legislation cited (10)

Cases cited (2)

  • Attorney General & Others v Boniface Byanyima (HCMA No. 1789 of 2000)
  • Levi Outa v Uganda Transport Company [1995] HCB 340

Full judgment

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

Geses Uganda Limited v Rubabo Peoples Cooperative Savings & Credit Society (Miscellaneous Application 39 of 2022) [2023] UGHC 440 (7 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.