Accountant wins case against accountancy institute

By Darious Magara     

KAMPALA - The Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAU) has been ordered to pay sh30m in compensation to a veteran accountant David Nyende.

This followed a court ruling in a row between the two parties.

Nyende had dragged ICPAU to court over refusal to register his new audit firm’s name ‘Continental Partners’.

The institute argued in court that he uses his names or initials given that ‘Continental Partners’ was a generic name and not acceptable by ICPAU.

But in a judgment earlier last week, High Court judge Elizabeth Musoke declared ICPAU’s refusal to renew the applicant’s practicing certificate under the name of his choice illegal.

She stated: “The applicant’s right to equality and freedom from discrimination has been violated by the respondent. The respondent is hereby ordered to renew the applicant’s practicing certificate under the name of ‘Continental Partners’, unless there is any other lawful reason for not doing so.”

Justice Musoke granted sh30m as compensation for Nyende in accordance with Article 50(1) of the constitution.

The compensation amount covers the period he spent without practicing and for the costs of the application to register a new firm.

On his part, Nyende argued before court that he was not able to create a sustainable brand using his personal names because every change in partnership composition necessitated a change in name to accommodate the names or initials of new partners.

He also argued that the same institute had registered some international firms that use generic names.

Through his lawyer Henry Rwaganika, Nyende contended that there were many firms using generic names including the big international audit firms that had been registered and granted practicing certificates.

He said to have been denied his request to be registered using a generic name amounted to discrimination and double standards since the institute had registered other firms under generic names.

A generic name is that where one is using a general or broad name as compared to if one used his/her exact names to register a firm.

In Uganda other professionals such as lawyers and doctors are allowed to use either generic and other names of their choice.