Ntimba v Uganda Electricity Board (Civil Appeal 16 of 1992)

Observed later treatment

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.

Holding

The appellant sustained catastrophic injuries (loss of right eye and dim vision in the left, amputated right leg, weakness of the right hand, extensive burns, and 80% assessed disability) while working for the respondent, leaving him wheelchair-bound and wholly dependent on his wife. Liability was not contested. The Supreme Court held that the trial court's award of shs.9,000,000 general damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities was inordinately low given the severity and permanence of the disability and comparable awards. It allowed the appeal and increased general damages to shs.18,000,000, entering judgment in the total sum of shs.29,856,000 (inclusive of the unchallenged shs.11,856,000 for future earnings), with costs to the appellant.

Outcome

Appeal allowed; general damages increased to shs.18,000,000 and judgment entered for shs.29,856,000

Facts

The appellant was seriously injured while working for the respondent, the Uganda Electricity Board. The Board was found liable and that finding was not appealed. The injuries were catastrophic: he lost the sight of his right eye and could see only dimly with the left, his right leg was amputated above the knee, his right hand was weakened so that he could not write, he suffered extensive burns to the scalp and face (involving the bone of the parietal region) and a superficial burn to the right shoulder, with skin grafted from his left thigh. Medical doctors assessed his disability at 80%. Aged 57, he was confined to a wheelchair for life, unable to dress, bathe or use the toilet without help, and wholly dependent on his wife, who did no other work. The trial judge awarded shs.9,000,000 general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenities and shs.11,856,000 for future earnings; only the general-damages award was challenged on appeal.

Issues

1. Whether the trial court's award of shs.9,000,000 as general damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities was inordinately low and ought to be increased.

Orders

• Appeal allowed.
• Award of general damages varied from shs.9,000,000 to shs.18,000,000.
• Judgment entered for shs.29,856,000.
• Costs of the appeal awarded to the appellant.

Rules and key headnotes

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.

• Nabisere v Mutebi & Anor (Civil Suit No. 565 of 2012)

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