Wakilii

Wanderemah and 50 Ors v The Microfinance Finance Support Centre Ltd (Civil Suit No.111 of 2011)

High Court · [2015] UGHCCD 99 · 2015 Judgment for Plaintiffs AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for breach of contract and payment of severance package
Decision
Judgment entered for the plaintiffs with awards of special and general damages, plus interest and costs. Claims for six deceased plaintiffs dismissed.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court held that the plaintiffs proved their employment with the defendant and its predecessors through salary schedules and board minutes, despite the defendant's blanket denial. The board resolution to pay severance packages became part of the employment contracts and was binding. The court awarded special damages of UGX 215,332,707 plus general damages of UGX 60,000,000, but disallowed claims for six plaintiffs who died before suit was filed.

Outcome

Judgment entered for the plaintiffs with awards of special and general damages, plus interest and costs. Claims for six deceased plaintiffs dismissed.

Facts

The plaintiffs were former employees of the Poverty Alleviation Project and Rural Microfinance Support Project, which were succeeded by the defendant company. In 2003, the defendant's Board of Directors resolved to pay a severance package to all staff, calculated as a prorated 12 months salary plus 30%. The package was designed to compensate staff who had never received salary increments despite years of service. The plaintiffs were retired or terminated in April 2004 but were not paid the severance package. The defendant denied the plaintiffs were employees and denied any resolution to pay severance packages, claiming no such records existed in its files.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaintiffs were former employees of the defendant company.
  2. Whether the defendant ever resolved to pay certain packages to its retired employees.
  3. What remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

  • Special damages of UGX 215,332,707 awarded to the plaintiffs (excluding six deceased plaintiffs).
  • General damages of UGX 60,000,000 awarded to the plaintiffs to be shared equally (excluding six deceased plaintiffs).
  • Interest on special damages at 15% per annum from April 2004 until payment in full.
  • Interest on general damages at 10% per annum from the date of judgment until payment in full.
  • Costs of the suit awarded to the plaintiffs.
  • Claims for Livingstone Bakyumira, Titus Auku, Gidion Lukeca, Peter Ungei, Ogole Yeko and Opiro Ayoko disallowed as they died before the suit was filed.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Secondary Evidence — Photocopies — Admissibility when original in possession of opposing party
Where photocopies of documents are tendered and the originals are in the possession of the party against whom the documents are sought to be proved, the photocopies may be accepted as secondary evidence under Section 64 of the Evidence Act, even where that party denies the existence of the originals.
Employment & Labour — Contract of Service — Proof of Employment — Methods of proof
While contracts of service for six months or more must be in writing under Employment Act Cap. 219 s.11, the fact of employment need not be proved exclusively by tendering the written contract but may be established through other documentary evidence or oral evidence, including salary schedules and board minutes listing employees.
Company Law — Board Resolutions — Effect of procedural irregularities — Binding nature
Where a company's board of directors passes a resolution but fails to comply with internal procedures for signing minutes as required by the Companies Act, the company cannot rely on its own procedural failures to escape liability to third parties who acted in reliance on that resolution.
Employment & Labour — Severance Package — Contractual entitlement — Effect of board resolution
When an employer's board of directors resolves to pay a severance package to employees in consideration of years worked without salary increments, that resolution becomes part of the employment contract and creates an enforceable entitlement binding on the employer.
Damages & Quantum — Special Damages — Pleading and proof — Effect of variance in figures
It is not fatal to a claim for special damages when the amount proved differs from the amount claimed in pleadings, provided the special damages are specifically pleaded and the variance is a minor arithmetic or computation error not intended to mislead the court.
Civil Procedure — Representative Actions — Death of party before suit filed — Effect on claim
A suit cannot be commenced by a deceased person. Where a representative action is filed and some of the represented parties died before the date of filing, their claims must be disallowed as no suit can be brought in the name of a person already deceased at the time of filing.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (10)

  • William Ekallo v Microfinance Support Centre Ltd (High Court Civil Suit No. 894 of 2004)
  • Microfinance Support Centre Ltd v Herbert Byabagambi Katuku (High Court Civil Suit No. 002 of 2005)
  • Kampala District Land Board and Another v National Housing and Construction Corporation (2005) 2 EA 69
  • Marjaria v Kenya Batteries [1981] 2 EA 479
  • Vicent Bagamuhunda v John Katongole (High Court Civil Suit No. 44 of 2001)
  • Christopher Kiggundu v UTC (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 7 of 1993)
  • John Nagenda v Sabena Belgian World Airlines (1992) KALR 13
  • Uganda Breweries Ltd v Uganda Railways Corporation [2002] 2 EA 634
  • Adonia Tumusiime v Bushenyi District Local Government and AG (High Court Civil Suit No. 32 of 2012)
  • James Fredrick Pool Nsubuga v Attorney General (Civil Suit No. 1296 of 1987)

Full judgment

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

Wanderemah and 50 Ors VS The Microfinance Finance Support Centre Ltd (Civil Suit No.111 of 2011) [2015] UGHCCD 99 (30 September 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.