High Court orders govt to pay former coffee workers Shs29b
Former workers of the coffee marketing board leave the Kampala High court yesterday. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
KAMPALA- After waiting for their termination benefits for more than two decades, former workers of the defunct Coffee Marketing Board (CMB) now have reason to smile after government was ordered to pay them about Shs29.1b.
A Kampala High Court session chaired by Justice Stephen Musota yesterday ordered government to pay Shs29.1b to 1,568 people in fulfillment of a consent judgement between the complainants and the Attorney General in July last year.
“What the applicants were seeking is not relief against the government but rather compelling orders against a public official to do his duty.
I am satisfied that the application has merit and is hereby granted,” held Justice Musota, prompting jubilation from the complainants who filled the courtroom.
The compelling order is confirmation of the July 2015 consent between the complainants through their lawyers, Attorney General as well as CMB in liquidation in which government was ordered to pay the non-unionised workers Shs10.3b as terminal benefits.They were retrenched between 1992 and 1998 in accordance with the November 2009 verification report of the Auditor General.
The court ordered each person to be paid Shs10m as general damages with interest at court rate, aggravated damages worth Shs1b to be shared equally as well as 10 per cent per annum on the terminal benefits from the date of the judgement until full payment.
Yesterday’s court ruling resulted from an application in which the former workers through their lawyers of Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA) sought orders to compel the Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Keith Muhakanizi to pay them their money in fulfillment of the consent.
In October last year, Mr Muhakanizi said the claims for terminal benefits were illegal and irregular, arguing that court had earlier issued an order prohibiting its implementation.
“Verification of this claim by the Auditor General was highly irregular and appears to be the trigger of most of these challenges. The verification was deemed irregular,” wrote Mr Muhakanizi, adding that the Auditor General was not requested by the Ministry of Finance or the official receiver to carry out the purported verification.
In the letter to the Attorney General seeking advice and guidance, Mr Muhakanizi, wrote: “I was quite surprised that a new suit was filed by the former CMB workers, brought to the knowledge of the Solicitor General and concluded without consulting us. The commitment on government arising from the consent requiring taxpayers to pay colossal sums of money is highly irregular and must be challenged and or reversed.”
However, Justice Musota ruled that the claims by Mr Muhakanizi were in regard to another group of 264 former workers of the defunct CMB, which was laid off in 1991, and the matter is still pending before the Court of Appeal.
