What you need to know:
- Assa Abloy told the court that although the goods were supplied and installed between 2017 and 2019, Roko failed to settle the outstanding balance despite repeated demands. The supplier sought to recover US$1,391,667.58, maintaining that Roko had paid only US$1.19 million.
The Commercial Division of the High Court has ordered Roko Construction Company to pay $1.39 million (about Shs5.7 billion) to Assa Abloy Uganda Limited over an unpaid debt arising from the supply and installation of thousands of doors and ironmongery accessories at Mulago National Referral Hospital.
In a ruling delivered on October 16, presiding judge Justice Stephen Mubiru held that Roko failed to clear the outstanding contractual balance of $1,391,667.58 despite receiving and installing the consignment during the hospital’s major renovation works.
Justice Mubiru ruled that Assa Abloy successfully established its claim after demonstrating that the doors and accessories were delivered and installed, whereas Roko had paid only a portion of the agreed contractual sum.
“The plaintiff is therefore entitled to the recovery of the outstanding balance of US $1,391,667.58,” Justice Mubiru ruled.
The judge entered judgment in favour of Assa Abloy against Roko for the unpaid balance, while dismissing the suit against the Attorney General, who had been listed as the second defendant, with costs.
The legal dispute stemmed from an agreement for the supply of 2,716 doors and an assortment of ironmongery intended for Mulago Hospital. According to court records, Roko initially placed an order on June 30, 2017, for 2,398 steel door sets—complete with steel frames, wooden leaves, transom panels, and fixing accessories—valued at $1.57 million. The consignment was manufactured and shipped from Assa Abloy’s factory in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The order was subsequently revised to 2,716 doors and accessories, bringing the value to $2.22 million. On January 18, 2019, Roko placed an additional order for assorted ironmongery worth $365,342.97, bringing the combined value of both orders to $2,581,667.58.
The supplies were delivered and installed at the referral facility between August 31, 2017, and October 31, 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, payment was due within 45 days of delivery. However, Roko paid only $1.19 million, leaving a balance of $1.39 million that prompted Assa Abloy to seek judicial redress.
In its defence, Roko argued that several of the supplied doors and accessories were defective or failed to comply with agreed specifications. The construction firm further relied on claims concerning the return or repossession of part of the consignment to dispute the final amount owed.
Justice Mubiru rejected Roko's defence, finding that the contractor failed to demonstrate that it had formally rejected the allegedly defective goods within a reasonable timeframe. The court observed that Roko retained and installed the doors for years without communicating its rejection to the supplier.
“In conclusion, had the 1st defendant genuinely wished to reject any doors, it was required to intimate this rejection to the plaintiff within a reasonable time. It did not do so. Therefore, the 1st defendant’s defence of defective or non-compliant goods is not available,” Justice Mubiru held.
The court noted that by retaining and installing the items without timely formal notification, Roko was deemed to have accepted the goods. Justice Mubiru further dismissed assertions that a substantial number of doors had been physically returned or repossessed.
“The doors were installed at Mulago Hospital. D.W.1 testified to the installation process across Blocks ‘A’ through ‘K’. The August 2020 joint audit confirmed 2,716 doors installed,” Justice Mubiru observed, adding that neither party presented evidence showing that 1,358 doors had been physically removed from the hospital premises.
Finding no factual basis for the alleged repossession, the court cleared the way for Assa Abloy to recover the outstanding contractual sum directly from the construction firm.