The Industrial Court is a specialized court established to determine employment matters in Uganda.
In 2014, one of the matters heard by the Court was Florence Musumba vs. Uganda Development Bank Labour Dispute Claim 138 of 2014. Some of the findings of the Court included: the distinction between dismissal and termination of employees, the obligation to give an employee reasons upon their dismissal or termination, the requirement for employers to repay salary loans for employees who have been unfairly dismissed and more.
The Court awarded Florence various remedies including but not limited to: a declaration that her termination was unlawful, an order that the sums payable from her wages as payments for her loans to UDB should be recovered by her, for the period between her termination and retirement, her full salary for her last month of employment, salary from the date of her unlawful termination until the date of the Industrial Court’s award, severance pay of UGX 83,215,239, general damages of UGX 150,000,000, aggravated damages of UGX 200,000,000, 25% interest on all claims from the date of the award. These numbers were staggering, UDB lodged an appeal forthwith. The Court of Appeal delivered its 66 page judgment in the appeal of the matter on 3rd July, 2020.
Click here for a breakdown of the findings of the Court of Appeal.
Article by Patrick Mugalula of Ugandan firm Katende, Ssempebwa Advocates
