High Court Judge Boniface Wamala of the Civil Division has awarded the family of a maid who died in Saudi Arabia in 2019 250 million Shillings.
Namale Desire and her uncle Muyingo Mutasa Charles sued Horeb Services Uganda Limited the recruitment company and its director Ezra Mugisha over the death of her mother Milly Namutamba.
Namale through legal aid lawyers of The Women’s Pro Bono Initiative, told the court that her mother was externalised on August 19th 2018 as a domestic service worker. She noted that by the time of leaving the country, Namutamba was in perfect health and was subjected to a medical check-up.
That while in Saudi Arabia, she kept in contact with her until there was a blackout in communication. She then went to the office of the recruitment company and expressed her worry. She added that she kept frequenting the office for two years to know what had happened to her mother but the company was non-responsive. It was not until September 2022 that she was finally told that her mother died and was buried in an unknown place she meant that it was impossible to repatriate her body back to Uganda.
She added that they were promised compensation from the company, but this money never came. However, Ezra Mugisha the director of the recruitment company said his company had no responsibility over Namutamba’s death. He told the court that his company had also entered into a contract with a Saudi-based company Al Manasa Recruitment Agency which was solely responsible for the wellbeing of Namutamba. He noted that if Namutambi’s relatives had any claims, they should direct them to this company.
However, in his ruling, Wamala said Namutamba had no connection whatsoever with the Saudi company and therefore, couldn’t possibly take any legal action against them. He added that when the government of Uganda through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development was licensing, it licenced Horeb Services Uganda Limited and not the Saudi company. “It is clear to me that the responsibility of the respondents about the externalisation of Milly Namutamba arose out of the licence issued to the 1st respondent under the said regulations. The existence of a bilateral agreement between the States of Uganda and Saudi Arabia or the contract referred to above did not extinguish the responsibility of the 1st respondent as a recruitment agency which contracted with the Saudi Arabian recruitment agency for the externalisation of the deceased worker. Although the 1st respondent attempted to distance themselves from responsibility over the safety and welfare of the deceased migrant worker, the facts and the law reveal otherwise,” the judge ruled.
He added, “It is wrong on the part of the respondents to argue that the responsibility over Namutamba Milly lay against the other stakeholders and not on themselves. The legal framework indicates that the 1st respondent bore the primary responsibility for the safety and life of the deceased migrant worker. The 1st respondent was also the entity vested with locus to enforce against any breach of the agreed terms against either the foreign recruitment agency or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the ruling adds.
Having found that Horeb Services bore responsibility and the fact that Namutamba’s body couldn’t be repatriated, the judge awarded 200 million Shillings in general damages and 50 million Shillings in exemplary damages.
The judge also awarded the applicants the cost of the suit. “Having found that the respondents violated the late Milly Namutamba’s right to life, it follows that the applicants are entitled to damages owing to the wrongful acts of the respondents… The applicants showed evidence that they suffered from mental anguish, inconveniences, grief and pain while trying to find out the whereabouts of the deceased. They further suffered mental and psychological pain upon learning that their family member had fallen sick, died and was buried in Saudi Arabia, without the consent or consultation with the family members in Uganda.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the place of burial of the deceased was not known or identified,” the ruling reads.
This court ruling is likely to open floodgates of suits against recruitment companies. Many Uganda maids and other casual workers have died particularly in the Middle East, and recruitment companies that recommended them there have deflected responsibility.
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