Wakilii

Kampala Capital City Authority v Foster -A- Light Limited (Civil Suit 852 of 2014)

High Court · [2024] UGCOMMC 67 · 2024 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for breach of contract, recovery of money, general damages, and costs. Matter proceeded ex parte after defendant's counsel withdrew instructions and substituted service was effected.
Decision
Judgment entered for the plaintiff with award of special damages, general damages, interest and costs against the defendant

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (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 1 time with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. 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

The court held that the defendant breached its contractual obligations by failing to remit monthly instalments of UGX 36,939,000 to the plaintiff and by defaulting on payment of electricity bills. The court further held that the defendant's participation in court-assisted mediation and failure to raise arbitration during those proceedings waived its right to arbitrate, rendering the arbitration clause inoperative under section 5(1)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. Special damages of UGX 1,658,293,630 and general damages of UGX 20,000,000 were awarded together with interest and costs.

Outcome

Judgment entered for the plaintiff with award of special damages, general damages, interest and costs against the defendant

Facts

On 23rd September 2008, the plaintiff contracted the defendant to install, manage and maintain street light poles and advertise on them in Kampala City for 60 months from 1st October 2008. Under clause 6(iii) of the contract, the defendant was obliged to remit UGX 443,268,000 to the plaintiff in the first twelve months, payable in twelve equal monthly instalments of UGX 36,939,000 within the first week of each succeeding month. Under clause 11, the defendant was responsible for payment of all electricity bills for the street lights. The defendant defaulted on its obligations to pay the monthly instalments and electricity bills. By 28th March 2014, electricity bill arrears had accumulated to UGX 628,908,658. To avoid disruption of services due to disconnection, the plaintiff committed to pay UMEME Ltd the outstanding bills with the intention of seeking reimbursement from the defendant. The plaintiff terminated the contract and brought this action for breach of contract seeking recovery of UGX 1,658,293,630 comprised of UGX 1,120,870,623 for breach of contract and UGX 537,423,007 for electricity bills paid. The defendant's counsel withdrew instructions in October 2021. Substituted service was effected and the matter proceeded ex parte against the defendant.

Issues

  1. Whether the Defendant breached the contract
  2. What are the remedies available

Orders

  • The Defendant is in breach of its contractual obligations.
  • The Defendant shall pay the Plaintiff UGX 1,658,293,630 as special damages.
  • General damages of UGX 20,000,000 shall be paid by the Defendant to the Plaintiff.
  • Interest of 8% per annum on the special damages from the date of filing the suit until payment in full.
  • Interest of 6% per annum on general damages from the date of Judgment until payment in full.
  • Costs of the suit are awarded to the Plaintiff.

Rules and key headnotes

Contract Law — Breach of Contract — Definition and Test
A breach of contract occurs where one or both parties fail to fulfil obligations imposed by the terms of the contract.
Arbitration & ADR — Arbitration Clauses — Waiver and Inoperability
A party waives the right to arbitrate and renders the arbitration agreement inoperative where it participates in court-assisted mediation and litigation processes without raising the arbitration clause, and subsequently fails to appear after the matter is referred back to court for scheduling conference.
Arbitration & ADR — Arbitration and Conciliation Act — Inoperative Agreement
Under section 5(1)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, an arbitration agreement becomes inoperative where the parties have implicitly or explicitly revoked the agreement to arbitrate through their conduct, including participation in mediation which failed and resulted in referral back to court for litigation.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Pleading and Proof
Special damages must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved, and the court will restrict its award to the amount claimed in the plaint notwithstanding higher amounts mentioned in subsequent witness statements or submissions.
Damages & Quantum — General Damages — Assessment Principles
General damages are awarded at the discretion of the court to restore the aggrieved person to the position they would have been in had the breach not occurred, guided by the value of the subject matter, the economic inconvenience suffered, and the nature and extent of the injury.
Damages & Quantum — Interest — Rates on Special and General Damages
Where a commercial lending rate of interest is claimed but not justified, the court may award a lower rate of 8% per annum on special damages from the date of filing suit until payment in full, and 6% per annum court rate on general damages from the date of judgment until payment in full.

Legislation cited (6)

Cases cited (19)

  • Heyam and Another v Darwin's Ltd (1942) 1 All ER 337
  • Premium Nafta Products Ltd and others v Fili Shipping Company Ltd and others [2007] UKHL 40
  • Fiona Trust and Holding Corporation v Privalov [2008] 1 Lloyd's Rep 254
  • Vehicle and Equipment Leasing (U) Ltd v I Engineering Uganda Limited (Misc. Application No. 1067 of 2021)
  • National Social Security Fund v Alcon International Ltd (Court of Appeal No. 2 of 2008)
  • Broken Hill City Council v Unique Urban Built Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 825
  • Lucky-Goldstar International (HK) Ltd v NG Moo Kee Engineering Ltd [1993] HKCFI 14
  • Bulkbuild Pty Ltd v Fortuna Well Pty Ltd & Ors [2019] QSC 173
  • Yan Jian Uganda Company Ltd v Siwa Builders and Engineers (Misc. Application No. 1147 of 2014)
  • Ewadra Emmanuel v Spencon Services Limited (Civil Suit No. 22 of 2015)
  • Nakawa Trading Co. Ltd v Coffee Marketing Board (Civil Suit No. 137 of 1991)
  • William Kasozi v DFCU Bank Ltd (Civil Suit No. 1326 of 2000)
  • W.M Kyambadde v MPIGI District Administration [1984] HCB
  • Bonham Carter v Hyde Park Hotel Ltd [1948] 64 TLP 177
  • Takiya Kashwahiri & Anor v Kajungu Denis (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 85 of 2011)
  • Hadley v Baxendale (1854) 9 Exch 341
  • Kibimba Rice Ltd v Umar Salim (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 17 of 1992)
  • Uganda Commercial Bank v Deo Kigozi [2002] 1 EA 305
  • Wallesteiner v Moir (1975) 1 All ER 849

Cases citing this judgment (1)

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.

Kampala Capital City Authority v Foster -A- Light Limited (Civil Suit 852 of 2014) [2024] UGCommC 67 (15 January 2024)
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.