Appeals Court Upholds Order for Imperial Royale to Refund $1.4m CHOGM Cash

The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court ruling ordering Imperial Royal Hotel Limited to refund over 1.4 million US dollars to the government after failing to provide accommodation to Common wealth Heads of Government Meeting—CHOGM guests in 2007.

The case stemmed from a 2007 agreement between the Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Imperial Royale hotel to provide accommodation and conference facilities for CHOGM delegates at a cost of over 2.5 million US dollars.

However the Hotel wasn’t still under construction and unable to host guests 

thus government petitioning court seeking recovery of 1.4 million dollars in special damages

The High Court had earlier ruled that the hotel was not ready for occupation between October 26th and November 18th, 2007, ordering it to refund the funds with interest and to pay 800 million shillings in general damages.

On appeal, the hotel argued that its facilities were ready by October 24th and blamed the government for not utilizing the booked rooms.

However, the appellate court found no merit in the appeal, ruling that the hotel failed to properly communicate its concerns to the designated government contact person.

As a result, the Court of Appeal upheld the earlier ruling and ordered the hotel to bear the costs of the appeal.