Court rejects appeal by executors seeking compensation over employee’s death
Justice Bonny Isaac Teko struck out the appeal after finding that it had been filed 17 days outside the statutory 30-day period without the executors obtaining leave of court to appeal out of time.
Court rejects appeal by executors seeking compensation over employee’s death
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The High Court in Kampala has struck out an appeal filed by the executors of the estate of the late Filder Amito Oryem, who were seeking compensation from the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) over her death following an accident.
Justice Bonny Isaac Teko struck out the appeal after finding that it had been filed 17 days outside the statutory 30-day period without the executors obtaining leave of court to appeal out of time.
The judge held that the appeal was incompetent and could not be heard on its merits because the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain an appeal filed outside the prescribed period.
The appeal had been filed by Kenneth Kelvin Otto and Fiona Vivian Latigi, the executors of Oryem's estate, challenging the decision of the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's Court, which had dismissed their claim for compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act.
The lower court had dismissed the claim after UETCL raised a preliminary objection, arguing that it was barred by time under Section 3(1) of the Limitation Act.
Justice Teko first dealt with a preliminary objection raised by UETCL's lawyer, Martin Kushaba, that the appeal itself had been filed out of time.
The court heard that the decision being appealed against was delivered by the acting senior principal magistrate, Martins Kirya, on July 17, 2023.
The executors applied for certified copies of the proceedings on August 4, 2023, 18 days after the ruling was delivered, and the lower court certified the record on August 24, 2023.
The memorandum of appeal was subsequently filed on September 22, 2023.
The judge noted that 18 days had passed before the executors applied for the certified record, while another 29 days elapsed between certification of the record and the filing of the memorandum of appeal.
He said that even after giving the executors full credit for the 20 days taken by the court to prepare the record, they had taken 47 chargeable days to file the appeal instead of the required 30 days.
Justice Teko said the law allows the High Court to admit an appeal filed out of time where good or sufficient cause is shown, but the executors had not filed an application seeking leave to appeal out of time.
The judge said the court could not, on its own motion, construct an application for leave that had not been filed by the appellants or supply an explanation for their delay.
“This Court cannot, of its own motion, construct an application for leave that the appellants have not themselves brought,” Justice Teko held.
He added that the absence of a response to the preliminary objection did not cure the delay or make the appeal competent.
The judge consequently struck out the appeal for having been filed outside the period prescribed under Section 79 of the Civil Procedure Act without leave of court.
He ordered each party to bear its own costs.
The judge, however, clarified that his decision did not determine the merits of the executors' underlying claim for compensation or whether the lower court was correct in finding that the claim was time-barred.
He also noted that the ruling did not prevent the executors from seeking leave, through a properly supported application, to appeal out of time.
Oryem sustained injuries to her wrists, knees and lower limbs and was given first aid by the company's human resource personnel.
According to court documents, she later reported that her condition had deteriorated, complaining of pain, numbness and spinal complications, which she attributed to the accident.
On April 28, 2016, UETCL's human resource and administration manager reportedly directed that her medical expenses be refunded and that her documents be forwarded to the legal department to pursue workers' compensation and reimbursement from the company's insurers.
However, on July 6, 2016, while on official duties in Nairobi, Kenya, Oryem collapsed and was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.
An autopsy report subsequently linked her death to trauma associated with the earlier accident, among other causes.
Following her burial, her executors pursued compensation through UETCL's insurers, and the matter later went before the Insurance Regulatory Authority, which delivered its decision on December 15, 2021.
The executors later demanded compensation directly from UETCL and were invited to a meeting with the company's Legal and Corporate Services Department.
They were reportedly assured that their claim was under consideration and would be presented to the company's board.
When no compensation was forthcoming, they filed the case before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's Court, seeking compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act.
The executors were represented by Stephen Olobo of Nimungu Associated Advocates, while UETCL was represented by Martin Kushaba from its legal department.