NWSC Managing Director, Dr Eng.Silver MugishaThe High Court has awarded C-Tech Limited UGX 39.7 million in interest and costs after ruling that the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) owed interest on more than UGX 1.3 billion paid to the company while a debt recovery suit was pending.In a ruling delivered on October 22, 2026, Justice Anna Mugenyi ordered NWSC to pay simple interest of 10% per year, calculated from April 13, 2023, when the suit was filed, until the dates the respective payments were made.The court also awarded C-Tech the costs of the suit, including those of a related application, with the amount to be taxed. C-Tech had sued NWSC to recover UGX 1.347 billion for civil engineering, surveying and water-handling equipment and spare parts supplied between November 2017 and October 2022.The company also sought interest at 25% per year from the date of default and legal costs. NWSC obtained leave to defend the claim, arguing in part that it had made payments to C-Tech. The parties were later referred to mediation and, on June 1, 2026, entered a partial consent judgment recording that NWSC had paid UGX 1.328 billion in settlement of the supplies. The consent left the claims for interest and costs for the court to determine.C-Tech argued that payment was due within 60 days of supply and that NWSC had failed to pay on time despite repeated demands.It said only UGX 39.5 million had been paid before the suit was filed, with the remaining payments made in instalments between April 2023 and January 2024.The company maintained that settling the principal after proceedings began did not remove its liability for the period it had been kept from the money.NWSC disputed the request for 25% interest, saying C-Tech had not produced a contract or other document establishing an agreed payment date or default rate.It also argued that the case had been settled without a trial or finding of wrongful withholding, and challenged the amount sought for costs.Justice Mugenyi found that the settlement supported C-Tech’s claim that the debt had been due when the proceedings began.“A debtor who pays almost the entire sum demanded only after it has been sued, without offering any explanation of a later due date, can hardly be heard to say that the debt had not fallen due when the suit was filed,” the judge said.The judge added that the grant of leave to defend did not establish that NWSC had a valid defence.“The triable issue the Defendant raised, that it had already paid, was in the event not borne out, since the reconciliation ended with the Defendant paying the Plaintiff over UGX 1.3 billion.”“I am therefore satisfied that the sum of UGX 1,328,038,965/= was a liquidated debt that was due and owing when the suit was instituted, and that the Plaintiff was kept out of it until it was paid,” Justice Mugenyi said. “The Plaintiff is entitled in principle to interest. Payment of the principal during the pendency of the suit does not extinguish that entitlement. Interest compensates for the period of deprivation, and that period ends only when payment is made.”The court calculated interest on the four instalments paid after the case was filed, using the actual number of days elapsed over a 365-day year.The amounts ranged from UGX 18,485 on a payment of UGX 2.69 million to UGX 27.88 million on a payment of UGX 988.05 million, bringing the total interest award to UGX 39,717,120.The post You Can’t Pay Late and Walk Away: Court Orders NWSC to Pay Supplier Shs39.7m Interest on Shs1.3bn Debt appeared first on Business Focus.