Court sets date for ruling in case against MTN

The Chief Magistrates Court at Nakawa has set August 26 as the date on which it will deliver a ruling in a case in which MTN is accused of failure to pay for supplied services.
In a case filed before Chief Magistrate Douglas Singiza, Sauti Warehouse Uganda is seeking payment of more than Shs34.9m with interest and legal costs.
It is alleged that in January 2018, MTN through Mr Michael Owori, contacted Sauti Warehouse to hire a range of music equipment for 12 days of rehearsals and two events.
Court documents indicate that the two parties agreed that Sauti Warehouse would supply equipment at Shs13.6m for rehearsals and Shs25.2m for the two events.
“It was agreed that [MTN] would take immediate custody of the equipment during the period of rehearsals and the two events ... payment would be made within two weeks of procuring the equipment for the first invoice and two weeks after the events,” documents before court, indicate.
The case, which dates back to 2018, involves Sauti Warehouse against MTN and its then officer in charge of marketing, Michael Owori and TBH Holdings, an advertising firm, for alleged failure to pay Shs34.9m for hire of music equipment.
Court documents indicate that whereas the equipment was hired for the 12 days and two events were held on January 29 and February 2, 2018 at Speke Resort Munyonyo, payments have not been effected.
Acting through their lawyers, Sauti Warehouse contends that the actions of MTN are unlawful thereby causing it to suffer loss and damage for which it is liable.
However, in its defence, MTN denies knowledge and participation in the said events, saying there is no contractual relationship between the two.
“That sometime in November 2017, [MTN] engaged the services of TBH Holdings for purposes of supplying band equipment for live performance at GLG and staff party for the theme, MTN Got Talent. That [MTN] at all material times dealt directly with TBH and was never aware of, neither did it participate in any underlying arrangements that may not have arisen from the engagement,” reads the defence filed in court.
MTN further contends that TBH was duly paid for its services and there is no outstanding payment arising from the transaction in dispute.
However, TBH denies ever contracting Sauti Warehouse, alleging that it sub-contracted Raising the Bar Limited, which was then owned by Mr Owori to provide production services required for management of the project.