Africa-Press – Uganda. The Supreme Court has upheld the decisions of lower courts in a case in which former employees of the defunct Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) challenged the awarding of a law firm, Bashasha & Co Advocates, 15 percent of their terminal benefits
This was meant as payment to the firm for successfully representing a total of 1,500 of the staff in an earlier case where they challenged their termination from UEB.
In a unanimous judgment yesterday, five justices agreed that the suit filed by a section of the terminated staff did not follow the proper procedure in filing it.
“Arising from the above, it is my finding that the learned justices of the Court of Appeal did not err when they found that the filing of HCCS No. 49 of 2014, to set aside part of the judgment compromise, and a consent taxation order, the appellants adopted a wrong procedure. The suit was actually, a disguised appeal,” Justice Lillian Ekirikubinza Tibatemwa, who wrote the lead decision, said.
She added: “As the result, since all the grounds of appeal fail, I would dismiss the appeal with costs to the respondents in this court and in the courts below. The order striking out HCCS No.49 of 2014, is upheld.”
The other justices were Faith Mwondah, Elizabeth Musoke, Night Percy Tuhaise and Mike Chibita.
Background
In 2012, a total of 1,500 former UEB employees sued the company and its successor companies including the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited and Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited after their contracts were terminated. This was after the staff had sought their terminal benefits in vain.
The High Court in Kampala granted permission to four of the affected former workers to institute a lawsuit against UEB.
The staff engaged Bashasha & Co Advocates to represent them in court to prosecute all the representative suits for free with the hope that if they won, they would give the firm 15 percent of their terminal benefits.
On July 13, 2012, the High Court ruled in their favour in all the suits. More than Shs47b was ordered to be paid to the staff after deducting the law firm’s fees.
But a section of the terminated staff on February 24, 2014, filed another suit challenging the order to deduct the lawyer’s fees from their terminal benefits, saying 15 percent was a lot.
Bashasha & Co Advocates contested this fresh suit on account that it was filed under a wrong procedure which was alien to the Ugandan justice system, adding that the workers should have instead applied for review of the High Court decision or appealed before the Court of Appeal.
The High Court dismissed the suit for using a wrong procedure. The staff then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the High Court decision, forcing the staff to seek the Supreme Court intervention.
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