The High Court has ordered car dealer Yassah Matovu to refund tycoon, Mutaasa Kafeero, Shs 300 million after he supplied him with a Range Rover that did not match the description in the contract. The ruling was delivered at the end of last month.
Through his lawyers Muwema and Company Advocates, Kafeero sued Matovu last year seeking to have his money refunded after the car he supplied him (grey Range Rover, UBQ 436E) did match the specifics agreed. Initially, Matovu had declined saying what he supplied matched what had been agreed on.
In the end, Justice Susan Abinyo agreed with Kafeero. Abinyo’s findings centered on the authenticity of the sale agreement. Matovu had argued that the document presented by Kafeero, which specified a 2023 model Range Rover, was altered and differed from the agreement they endorsed.
However, the court noted that Matovu failed to provide evidence to substantiate claims of alteration.
“The Respondent [Matovu] failed to file [a supplementary affidavit] and adduce the evidence leaving the plaintiff’s agreement, which specified a 2023 model, as the only valid document before the court,” court ruled.
Kafeero told court that on February 1, 2024, Matovu presented a sale agreement at his office at Hotel Triangle, Plot 16 Buganda Road, Kampala. He signed the document but noticed it lacked the vehicle’s model year.
“Kafeero then asked Matovu to present to him a copy of the sale agreement with a description of the model of the Range Rover that he intended to buy,” the court recounted.
Matovu returned with a corrected agreement specifying the 2023 model, which both parties signed, and Kafeero paid an initial deposit of Shs 100 million.
However when it came to the delivery of the car, court found that Matovu supplied a 2022 model Range Rover, which Kafeero rejected outright.
A subsequent mutual agreement on April 1, 2024, required Matovu to either source a 2023 model or refund the payments.
Relying on Section 14(1) of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, Cap 292, which mandates that goods in a sale by description must correspond with the agreed description, the court ruled that Matovu’s failure to deliver a 2023 model constituted a breach.
“This Court finds that when Kafeero outrightly rejected model 2022 Range Rover, the parties herein, subsequently, on 1 April 2024, executed a mutual agreement by which Matovu agreed to source for a model 2023 Range Rover or refund the money that had been paid to him,” court ruled.
The judge said Matovu shall refund Shs 300 million as money paid for consideration, which has wholly failed. It also dismissed Matovu’s claim that defendant’s claim that the paid money was non refundable.
Matovu had also argued that the matter had been improperly brought to court. His lawyers argued that there was need for oral testimony and expert evidence.This, too, was dismissed.
The ruling ends a year-long drama filled saga which had captivated many in Kampala. Some had wondered how someone of Kafeero’s stature could buy a car from a ‘mere car dealer’, not an established car importing company.
