Wakilii

Jinja City Haulage Operators Co-Op Society Ltd v Jinja City (Civil Suit 510 of 2024)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 593 · 2025 Judgment for Defendant AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for fraudulent misrepresentation and recovery of bidding costs
Decision
Suit dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that an advertisement soliciting bids for a public procurement contract is an invitation to treat, not an offer, and creates no legal obligation on the procuring entity to accept any bid or proceed with the procurement process. The defendant's issuance of tender advertisements while litigation over an earlier contract was pending did not constitute fraudulent misrepresentation. The plaintiff's claim for recovery of bidding costs failed because no contractual relationship arose from the unaccepted bid.

Outcome

Suit dismissed

Facts

The plaintiff cooperative society responded to two advertisements issued by the defendant city authority in 2021 and 2023 inviting bids for revenue collection services from lorries and pick-ups. The plaintiff incurred costs totalling UGX 14,070,000 and UGX 11,700,000 respectively in preparing and submitting bids. No action was taken on either bid. The plaintiff later discovered that the defendant had been sued in 2017 by an existing service provider over the same contract and had signed consent judgments in 2022 and 2023 awarding the contract to that provider. The plaintiff alleged fraudulent misrepresentation and sought recovery of bidding costs. The defendant was served but did not file a defence or appear. The case proceeded ex parte.

Issues

  1. Whether the defendant's actions amount to fraudulent misrepresentation.
  2. Whether the award of the contract pursuant to the consent judgment in Misc. Application 16 of 2017 flouted the PPDA laws.
  3. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to any remedies.

Orders

  • Suit dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Contract Formation — Invitation to Treat — Distinction from Offer
An advertisement soliciting bids in a public procurement process is an invitation to treat, not an offer, and does not create legal relations or obligations on the advertiser to accept any bid.
Contract Formation — Offer and Acceptance — No Obligation to Accept Bids
A procuring entity that solicits bids is not legally obliged to proceed with the procurement process or to accept any offer submitted in response to the invitation, and no contractual relationship arises until an offer is accepted.
Misrepresentation — Fraudulent Misrepresentation — Procurement Advertisements
The issuance of a procurement advertisement while litigation over an earlier contract for the same services is pending does not constitute fraudulent misrepresentation where the advertisement is issued before a consent judgment resolving the litigation is signed.
Damages — Recovery of Bidding Costs — Unsuccessful Bids
Costs incurred by a party in preparing and submitting an unsuccessful bid in response to an invitation to treat are not recoverable in law, as no contractual or tortious duty arises from the mere solicitation of bids.

Legislation cited (1)

Cases cited (3)

  • Taylor v Allon [1966] 1 QB 304
  • Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979] 1 WLR 294
  • Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394

Full judgment

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

Jinja City Haulage Operators Co-Op Society Ltd v Jinja City (Civil Suit 510 of 2024) [2025] UGHC 593 (14 July 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.