The High Court in Kampala has asked Horeb Services Uganda Limited to pay shs250 million in general and exemplary damages to the family of a Ugandan maid who died in Saudi Arabia.
Milly Namutamba who was working as a maid died in Saudi Arabia in early 2019, having been externalized by the company.
Upon her death, her daughter who was always in close contact with her lost communication prompting her to run to the company to ask the whereabouts of her mother but Horeb Services kept tossing her around as they never opened up.
When the daughter finally from sources got to know of the death of her mother and informed the company of the same, it finally admitted and invited them for a meeting where it promised compensation and facilitating some of the family members to go and pay their last respects to their relative in Saudi Arabia.
However, this never came to pass, prompting the daughter to drag the company and its Managing Direct, Ezra Mugisha to court.
On Monday, Justice Boniface Wamala faulted Horeb Services Uganda Limited for trying to distance themselves from responsibility over the safety and welfare of the deceased migrant worker.
The judge also faulted the company for breach of the contract it had made with the deceased Ugandan maid.
“ It is thus clear that as far as the deceased worker’s family was concerned, the entities with responsibility over the life and safety of their family member were the first respondent company and the Uganda Government. It is not disputed that the Uganda Government delegated this function through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development to the first respondent.”
“Evidence on record shows that the company externalised the deceased off the Saudi tracking system (MUSANED) which was irregular and made it hard for the deceased to be tracked by the Ugandan authorities in Saudi Arabia.”
The judge said Horeb Services Uganda Limited was at fault for not knowing the death of Namutamba for two years and eight months .
“ It ought to be noted that the respondents opted to keep total silence over the matter of having operated off the official system. They thus offered no explanation as to how the same came to be. The court is not able to tell with certainty as to whether the same was on account of negligence, deliberate omission or deceit.”
“ What is clear, however, is that the same was in breach of their responsibility under the operating licence and the legal framework; which makes them liable for any consequential damage or loss. In this case, I am convinced that such conduct heavily contributed to the unexplained loss of the life of the late Milly Namutamba. The respondents are clearly responsible for the said loss of life.”
The judge said that while Namutamba is said to have died in January 2019, the company came to learn of the loss of communication with the worker in April 2019; and this was from a family member, not from their own sources.
“They then came to learn of her death in September 2022, a period of two years and eight months from the time of her death. This means that the first respondent had no sources concerning the safety and welfare of the migrant workers that they externalised. This was in breach of the terms of the licence and the governing regulations.”
The judge said what is clear is that failure to known about the welfare of the Ugandan migrant worker they had externalized was in breach of their responsibility under the operating licence and the legal framework; which makes them liable for any consequential damage or loss.
“In this case, I am convinced that such conduct heavily contributed to the unexplained loss of the life of the late Milly Namutamba. The respondents are clearly responsible for the said loss of life. The applicants have therefore proved on a balance of probabilities that the respondents by their conduct violated the right to life of the late Namutamba Milly.”
The judge declared that the actions of Horeb Services Uganda Limited and its Managing Director, Ezra Mugisha.
He consequently ordered that they pay the deceased’s family shs200 million in general damages and shs50 million in exemplary damages .
