KAMPALA, Uganda — The Court of Appeal has reduced the damages MTN Uganda Limited was ordered to pay Ezee Money Uganda Limited from Shs2.3 billion to Shs300 million in a dispute over alleged interference with Ezee Money’s mobile money business.
In a judgment delivered on October 22, 2026, in Civil Appeal No. 66 of 2016, arising from High Court Civil Suit No. 330 of 2013, the court set aside findings that MTN had breached statutory competition duties under the Uganda Communications Act, 2013. However, it upheld the finding that the telecommunications company was liable for wrongful interference with contractual relations under common law.
The appeal was heard by Justices Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Jesse Byaruhanga Rugyema and John Mike Musisi. Justice Kiryabwire delivered the lead judgment, with the other two justices concurring.
The dispute began when Ezee Money, a Ugandan payment solutions company, sought to connect its mobile money platform to MTN’s network through a short code, 7711, using a third-party aggregator, Yo! Uganda Limited.
According to the Court of Appeal judgment, MTN declined to connect Ezee Money through the aggregator and instead required the company to agree on commercial terms directly with MTN. MTN also withdrew Ezee Money’s post-paid telecommunications services, citing its credit vetting requirements for a new company.
The dispute also concerned exclusivity agreements between MTN and its mobile money agents. Ezee Money argued that these arrangements restricted agents from serving competing platforms. Evidence before the court included reports that some agents who continued working with competing operators faced harassment and had their equipment confiscated.
Ezee Money sued MTN in the High Court’s Commercial Division, accusing it of breaching statutory duties, causing loss through unlawful means and interfering with contractual relations.
On November 6, 2015, Justice Henry Peter Adonyo ruled in Ezee Money’s favour and awarded the company Shs800 million in general damages and Shs1.5 billion in punitive damages, bringing the total to Shs2.3 billion.
MTN challenged that decision in the Court of Appeal, contesting the legal basis for the findings against it and the amount of damages awarded.
In its latest ruling, the Court of Appeal found that Ezee Money’s payment platform did not qualify as a communication service under the Uganda Communications Act, 2013. It therefore set aside the High Court’s findings that MTN had breached statutory duties under Sections 53(1) and 56 of the Act.
The court’s reasoning was that Ezee Money’s payment business was not itself a communication service within the meaning of the legislation. Its use of telecommunications networks to provide payment services did not, on its own, bring the business within that category.
The ruling did not, however, clear MTN of all liability.
The Court of Appeal upheld the finding that MTN had wrongfully interfered with Ezee Money’s contractual relations. It found that the evidence supported liability under common law in connection with the termination of the aggregation arrangement with Yo! Uganda and the conduct involving agents serving competing platforms.
The court treated this as a separate legal basis for liability from the statutory claims that it had rejected. It also upheld the position that MTN had admitted being in a dominant position in the relevant mobile telecommunications market during the proceedings, although that admission did not restore the unsuccessful statutory claims.
On the damages, the Court of Appeal said the High Court had awarded substantial sums but had improperly relied on internet financial reports about MTN that had been rejected as evidence. The appellate court said material excluded from evidence could not properly be used to determine damages.
It also considered evidence presented in the case that Ezee Money’s transactions had fallen by 79 per cent and that 65 per cent of its service centres had become inactive. The court said the evidence of business disruption and reputational harm supported an award of general damages for wrongful interference with contractual relations.
However, it found the original awards disproportionate to the proven harm, particularly after the statutory claims had been set aside and in the absence of detailed financial evidence supporting the amounts awarded.
The court consequently reduced general damages from Shs800 million to Shs200 million and punitive damages from Shs1.5 billion to Shs100 million.
Interest on both sums is to run at the court rate from the date of the High Court judgment until payment in full.
Because the appeal had succeeded in part and failed in part, the Court of Appeal ordered that MTN receive half of its taxed costs in the appeal and the High Court proceedings.
The decision therefore changes the legal basis and amount of the award in the long-running dispute. MTN is no longer liable under the statutory competition findings set aside by the Court of Appeal, but the finding of wrongful interference with contractual relations remains in place, with damages reduced to Shs300 million.
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