Willy Owacha v Ringa Enterprises Co.Ltd & another [1995] UGSC 17

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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 trial judge found that the respondents owed the appellant £7,200 in unpaid salary but dismissed the suit because the Minister of Finance had not consented to payment in foreign currency under section 5 of the Exchange Control Act. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the duty to obtain the Minister's permission rested on the party making payment (the respondents), not the payee, so the absence of consent did not bar the appellant's claim. Following the Katatumba case, a court may give judgment expressed in foreign currency, leaving the payer to seek permission. In any event, the appellant had prayed for payment of the Uganda-currency equivalent, so the question of consent did not arise.

Outcome

Appeal allowed; special damages of £7,200 ordered (converted to the Uganda Shillings equivalent at the 1 January 1993 rate) with interest, and the matter remitted to the High Court for assessment of general damages.

Facts

The appellant was employed by the respondents and in 1989 was seconded to their London contact office, Prideyear Motors Ltd, as Resident Director. He was to receive £200 per month, plus accommodation and maintenance at the respondents' cost. For the 36 months from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 1992 he performed the respondents' duties in London. The respondents paid the Uganda-currency component of his salary but not the sterling component, totalling £7,200. He resigned in December 1992 and demanded payment, receiving none. In January 1994 he sued in the High Court for special damages equivalent to £7,200 with interest, and general damages. The suit was heard ex parte for assessment of damages only, as the respondents never appeared or filed a defence. The trial judge found that £7,200 was owed but dismissed the suit because the Minister of Finance had not consented to payment in foreign currency under section 5 of the Exchange Control Act.

Issues

1. Whether the appellant's claim for payment of his foreign-currency salary could be enforced despite the absence of the Minister of Finance's consent under section 5 of the Exchange Control Act.
2. On whom lay the responsibility to obtain the Minister's permission for payment in foreign currency.
3. Whether the issue of Ministerial consent arose where the claim was for payment of the equivalent in Uganda currency.

Orders

• Appeal allowed with costs.
• Pound sterling 7,200 to be converted into Uganda Shillings at the rate obtaining on 1 January 1993.
• The amount found due to carry interest at 15% per annum from the date until payment in full.
• Proceedings remitted to the trial judge for assessment of general damages.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (1)

• Exchange Control Act (Cap. 108) s.5 (as amended by Decree No. 18 of 1972)

Cases cited (1)

• G.W. Katatumba t/a Technoplan v Uganda Cooperative Transport Union Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 23 of 1993)

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