The High Court has ordered Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) to pay Reliance Trading K234,600,001.500 for 1, 400 N95 face masks that the company supplied to CMST.
Reliance Trading, through their lawyers Phokoso and Company, took the matter to court after CMST refused to pay after the company dully supplied the masks.
In his ruling dated May 25, 2021 High Court Judge Michael Mtambo ruled that CMST should pay Reliance Trading within 30 days of the order.
Documents in our possession show that in February 2021, CMST ordered from Reliance Trading the 140,000 N95 Masks valued at the sum of K234,600,001.500 through a local purchase order number CMST 000719 as an urgent purchase.
The order specified that the Masks ordered for purchase were N95 masks, which were the same Masks that the company had previously supplied on an immediate past order and on which the course of dealing between the parties in regards to Mask supplies was built.
Reliance Trading accepted the Local Purchase Order and managed to source the masks.
On 5th February 202I, the company delivered the masks to CMST who took delivery and dully executed a delivery note.
CMST, further after the delivery, told the company that the masks supplied had been approved by the Ministry of Health and that it was processing payment.
However, in breach of the concluded Contract of the sale of the goods, on March 2, 2021 , Reliance Trading received an email from the CMST informing them that the masks had been rejected by their customer and requested the company to collect the goods.
CMST further refused to pay the price for the goods, in further breach of the Contract.
This forced Reliance Trading to seek court redress because as a result of the CMST actions, the company has suffered loss and damages.
