NSSF escapes paying sh3b legal fees
Nov 08, 2014
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has once again survived paying a hefty sh3.94b to a city lawyer as professional legal fees.
trueBy Hillary Nsambu
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has once again survived paying a hefty sh3.94b to a city lawyer as professional legal fees.
High Court Judge Henry Adonyo blocked the award, which had been given by a court registrar to Dr. Joseph Byamugisha.
Adonyo called the award astronomical and said it is “manifestly excessive and may not have been arrived at in accordance with the correct legal principles”.
The judge sent the tax issue back to the Registrar for reconsideration and cautioned the tax master to bear in mind that NSSF is a pension fund holding savers’ deposits and dishing out such sums could negatively affect the savers.
“I set aside the decision of the taxing master and I direct the Registrar to reconsider this matter, bearing in mind the legal position,” the judge ruled.
NSSF appealed against the award which was granted to Byamugisha’s law firm, J.B Byamugisha Advocates as taxed bill of costs for representing the pension fund in the case with Alcon International Ltd.
Adonyo said the taxing master should have adopted the arbitral award as the basis of the computation of the fees due to the lawyer failing which would be an erroneous award.
The arbitral award, which had been granted to Alcon before the Ugandan Supreme Court finally blocked it on account of irregularities by Alcon was $8.85m.
The arbiter was a Kenyan retired judge, Edward Torgbol.
The costs, the judge noted, must not be allowed to rise to such levels as to confine access to the courts only to the rich, though the successful litigant ought to be fairly reimbursed for costs incurred.
He noted that the general level of remuneration of advocates must be such as to attract recruits to the profession and there should be some consistency in the award of costs to the lawyers.