Court halts sh28m labour award against Uganda Martyrs University
The dispute stems from a labour claim filed by former lecturer George Goldie Aporu, who accused the university of failing to pay his wages for services rendered between 2021 and 2023.
Court halts sh28m labour award against Uganda Martyrs University
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Uganda Martyrs University has secured a temporary halt to the execution of a sh28.8 million labour award after the Industrial Court granted a conditional stay pending the hearing of its intended appeal challenging the decision of a Labour Officer.
The dispute stems from a labour claim filed by former lecturer George Goldie Aporu, who accused the university of failing to pay his wages for services rendered between 2021 and 2023.
Justice Anthony Wabwire Musana, together with panellists Can Amos Lapenga, Emmanuel Bigirimana and Adrine Namara, ordered the university to deposit sh14.9 million, half of the decretal amount into court within 14 days as a condition for the stay.
Failure to comply will automatically lift the stay and allow execution to proceed.
According to court records, Aporu lodged a complaint before the Labour Officer after alleging that despite working as a lecturer, the university failed to pay his salary.
The Labour Officer delivered an award in his favour on April 25, 2024, directing the university to pay him sh28.8 million. Following the award, Aporu initiated execution proceedings after the university failed to satisfy the decree.
A warrant of attachment was subsequently issued, leading to the attachment of one of the university’s buses used to transport staff.
Through its acting human resource director, Josephine Namugumya, the university argued that Aporu had already been paid all his entitlements and that he was not an employee but a consultant engaged under a contract for services.
It maintained that the Labour Officer lacked jurisdiction to determine the dispute and warned that execution would render its intended appeal futile.
The university also contended that the attachment of its staff bus had disrupted its operations and would cause substantial hardship if execution continued.
Aporu opposed the application, describing it as incompetent, frivolous and an abuse of court process.
He argued that the university had been aware of the proceedings before the Labour Officer but failed to participate and only sought court intervention after execution had commenced.
He further maintained that the application was barred by the doctrine of res judicata (a matter already judged) because an earlier application seeking a stay of execution had already been dismissed.
Aporu asked the court to dismiss the application with costs and allow execution to continue.
Justice Musana held that although the university had previously sought a stay, the current application was founded on an intended appeal and an application for extension of time to file a notice of appeal, making it legally distinct from the earlier application.
The court further held that while the university delayed for more than 500 days after the Labour Officer’s award before seeking to appeal, the explanation that it had initially pursued a different legal remedy was sufficient to justify consideration of the application.
On whether the intended appeal had merit, the court found that the university’s claim that Aporu was a consultant rather than an employee raised an important jurisdictional issue that could not be dismissed as frivolous.
“The jurisdictional challenge raised by the applicant means the intended appeal is not entirely frivolous,” ruled the judge.
The court nevertheless observed that the decree was purely monetary and that execution of a money decree does not ordinarily amount to substantial loss because any sums paid could be refunded if the appeal eventually succeeded.
The court ordered the university to deposit half of the decretal amount as security.
It also granted a conditional stay of execution of both the Labour Officer’s award and the execution proceedings pending determination of the university’s application for extension of time to appeal and the intended appeal itself.
Justice Musana directed that if the university fails to deposit sh14.9 million in court within 14 days, the stay will automatically lapse and Aporu will be free to resume execution proceedings.