Businesswoman battles insurance, courier firms over compensation

By EPHRAIM KASOZI & JULIET KIGONGO

In Summary

Ms Muteteri dragged the two firms to the Commercial Division of the High Court for breach of contract.

Mukono

A businesswoman who lost her goods in transit has dragged insurance firm and courier firms to court seeking for compensation worth of $600,000 of her goods.

Ms Irene Muteteri, the proprietor of Keen Services Limited, sued the Insurance Company of East Africa Uganda (ICEA) Limited and the East African Courier (Uganda) limited, a licensee of FedEx Express Corporation, for recovery of the sale price of four artworks that were destined to Haifa, Israel.

Through her attorneys, Ms Muteteri dragged the two firms to the Commercial Division of the High Court, citing breach of contract and negligence for allegedly failing to ensure proper labeling and handling of her package that led to the loss and misplacement of the paperwork.

It is alleged that in October 2009, the complainant contracted the courier firm to safely transport the package of pieces of artwork weighing 30 Kilogrammes to Israel and insured them with the ICEA for the value of $600,000.

“On November 10, 2009, the plaintiff (Muteteri) was informed by the first defendant (Fedex) about the delay of the package caused by the misplacement of the paperwork and poor handling of the package. The first defendant also informed the plaintiff that the package weight had changed to 33 Kilogrammes,” reads part of the complaint.

Ms Muteteri alleges that she received a copy of an e-mail of the intended buyer of the artwork by an official of FedEx Israel informing him that the package had arrived in Israel on November 12, 2009 but when it was opened, it contained shreds of newspapers, corrugated cardboards, five floppy discs and empty FedEx bags.

However, the insurance firm has since denied liability on grounds that the complainant allegedly violated the insurance agreement by not reporting the loss immediately.

Meanwhile, Justice Hellen Obura has set April 29 to May 2 for the hearing of the case