Man sues Meera Investments over accident

By Sania Babirye

Meera investments Ltd belonging to city tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia has been dragged to the high court civil division by a pedestrian, Martin Yiga seeking 80 million shillings in compensation over alleged negligence after a metal from one of their building under construction fell and hit him.

Meera Investments Ltd is being sued alongside Vcon Construction Uganda Limited.

Yiga accuses the two companies of failing to seal off a construction site, forcing a metal to fall off and hitting his head, causing him soft tissue injuries.

Yiga contends that on the 26th of September 2020 while lawfully moving along Kiyembe Lane in Kampala city, he was abruptly hit on the head by a metal cut off which dropped from the company's site between Market Street and Kiyembe Lane.

He claims that his injuries caused him over bleeding and was treated at UMC Victoria Hospital in Bukoto and although Vcon Construction company had promised to take care of him until he got better , thus has never happened.

Yiga further claims that his health has deteriorated and he has since started experiencing recurrent headaches, dizziness, nausea and fatigue.

Yiga, who was discovered to have an injury on the skull, alleges that after he had brought the CT Scan results to Victoria Hospital, with hope of receiving further treatment, the medical personnel there reportedly told him to first go back and liaise with the company to be attended to.

He reportedly approached the said companies to obtain clearance for his treatment but in vain .

Yiga through his lawyers of Wetaka, Kibirango and Company Advocates now wants court to declare that the two companies are liable for the injury sustained on his head and they should be compelled to compensate him with 80 million shillings for the suffering he is going through.

The Acting Registrar of the High Court Civil Division Dr Alex Mushabe has already issued summons to the two companies giving them fifteen days to defend themselves on these allegations levied against them.

The Registrar indicated in his summons that failure to comply with the fifteen days’ deadline, court will go ahead and hear the case in their absence.

The National Physical Planning Standards and Guidelines of 2011, require that each building under construction to have a planner and it must at the same time be sealed off with writing indicating to the public that there's construction going on as one of the safety measures.