Roko ordered to pay sh5.7b over Mulago hospital doors
In a judgment dated October 16, Justice Stephen Mubiru relied on an August 2020 joint audit that confirmed 2,716 doors had been installed at the hospital. He found that Roko owed the firm the amount it claimed.
The judgment followed a suit by Assa Abloy Uganda Limited against Roko and the Government. (File photo)
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The Commercial Division of the High Court in Kampala has ordered Roko Construction Company to pay $1,391,667.58 (about sh5.7b) to a local firm it subcontracted to supply doors and ironmongery accessories for Mulago National Referral Hospital.
The judgment followed a suit by Assa Abloy Uganda Limited against Roko and the Government. The firm sought to recover the money, together with installation costs, general damages for breach of contract, interest and costs.
In a judgment dated October 16, Justice Stephen Mubiru relied on an August 2020 joint audit that confirmed 2,716 doors had been installed at the hospital. He found that Roko owed the firm the amount it claimed.
“In the final conclusion, this issue is answered in the affirmative. The 1st defendant (Roko) is indebted to the plaintiff in the sum claimed in the plaint,” the judge declared.
Repossession claim collapses
In its defence, Roko argued that Assa Abloy had repossessed 1,358 doors. However, Justice Mubiru noted that the match between the unpaid sum and the amount claimed in the suit showed only that the firm had demanded payment, not that it had taken back any goods.
He added that the factual premise of an actual repossession was absent. “There is no evidence from either party to show that 1,358 doors were physically removed from the hospital premises by the plaintiff,” he said.
Conduct pointed to acceptance
The judge also looked at how Roko behaved after the doors were delivered, including installing and retaining them for more than two years and made partial payments, with its commercial manager promising further payments by WhatsApp to no avail.
Justice Mubiru held that all of this was inconsistent with rejection and consistent with acceptance. Roko, he said, never told the supplier that it had rejected any doors for defects or non-compliance.
Government cleared
The judge, however, absolved the Government. He ruled that it had no contractual relationship with Assa Abloy and that no cause of action had been shown against it.
Roko’s defence
Roko said that even if it had placed orders with the firm, they covered only 1,784 doors, and it had paid for those in full.
It denied the quantities of doors and ironmongery that Assa Abloy claimed to have supplied and installed.
The company further argued that a joint audit and reconciliation should have been carried out to weed out any defective items delivered or installed. It said the project involved countless suppliers, and all of them had been paid in full.
Roko said it was not the consignee of the items Assa Abloy claimed to have delivered and invoiced, and therefore bore no liability for payment. It maintained that it had paid in full for everything consigned to it.
Background
Through requisition No. REQ/111210/17 dated June 30, 2017, Roko ordered 2,398 steel door sets from Assa Abloy. The order covered steel frames, wooden leaves with transom panels and fixing accessories valued at $1,567,188. The doors were to be manufactured and shipped ex-works from the firm’s factory in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for Mulago National Referral Hospital.
The order was later revised to 2,716 doors and accessories valued at $2,216,324.61, of which Roko made partial payments of $1,190,000, leaving an outstanding balance of $1,391,667.58.