Time limit for suing administrator

My uncle died in a car accident which was attributed to the recklessness of the driver who was trying to overtake in a corner. As a result of the wrongful overtaking, the car boarded by my uncle collided with another car which was heading in the opposite direction. The driver who was also the owner of the car involved in the accident was charged with a traffic offence of causing death by careless driving and convicted on his own plea of guilty and sentenced to pay a fine. However, six months after the death of my uncle the driver also died and the administrator of his estate was appointed late last year. The family of my deceased uncle have asked me to file a suit against the administrator of the estate of the deceased driver for wrongful death of my uncle caused by him. Before instituting a suit in Court, I wish to get your opinion on the following issues. One, is there any time limit within which I should file a suit against the administrator of the estate of the deceased driver for recovery of damages due to the wrongful death of my uncle? Two, since the car was insured, does any compensation paid by the insurer bar the dependents of the deceased from claiming or getting compensation against the estate of the deceased?
GH, Dodoma

Causing death by careless or reckless driving is a tort of negligence and the driver or the administrator of the estate of the driver can be sued for the wrongful death attributed to the negligence of the driver. Generally the time limit for instituting a suit founded on torts is 3 years. This general period of limitation for tortious claims is provided under item 6 of Part I of the Schedule to the Law of Limitation Act [Cap.89 R.E 2019]. However, section 43(f) of the Law of Limitation Act expressly provides that the Law of Limitation Act shall not apply to any proceedings for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any other written law.

Such other written law which prescribes the period of limitation for instituting a claim for wrongful deaths against the administrator or executor of the deceased estates is the Law Reform (Fatal Accidents and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act [Cap.310 R.E 2019]. Section 9(3)(b) of the Act provides a period of 6 months from the date of appointment of the administrator or executor as the period of limitation for instituting a suit against the administrator or executor of the deceased estate if the cause of action against the deceased estate is the tort of wrongful death. In view of that law, a suit against the administrator of the deceased driver should have been filed 6 months from the date of the appointment of the administrator. Since the administrator of the estate of the driver estate was appointed last year, the intended suit is out of time because it is over 6 months now. The law fixes a shorter period for instituting a suit against administrators and executors of the deceased estates because their roles are not permanent.

Further, section 7 of the Law Reform (Fatal Accidents and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act states in clear terms that in assessing the amount of compensation for wrongful deaths, the Court assessing the compensation should not take into account any sum payable on the death of the deceased under any contract of insurance or assurance. This means that any amount that might have been paid to the beneficiaries of the estate of your deceased uncle by the insurer of the driver cannot be a bar to the payment of compensation under a suit filed in Court. Moreover Courts cannot even consider the payment given by the insurer in assessing the amount to be awarded by it.

Casual labourer claims paid maternity leave

We have casual labourers who have been working for us for about sixteen months to work on our farm. All these employees are new in the sense that they have not worked for us before. One of the casuals who became pregnant after recruitment has applied for paid maternity leave for 84 days. Is a casual labourer entitled to a paid maternity leave.
RE, Arusha

Section 14(1) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act divides the employees into three categories namely, employees with a specified term contract, employees with unspecified term contract and the employees recruited for a specific task. There is no fourth category of casual labourers. Section 61(d) of the Labour Institutions Act provides that a person who works for another for an average of 45 hours per month for over a period of 3 months is taken to be an employee of the person for whom he works regardless of the nature of his employment contract unless it is proved otherwise.

Section 29(2)(b) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act also makes it clear that an employee working on a seasonal basis is also entitled to paid leaves which includes maternity leave. However, under section 30(1)(b) (ii) of the Act, paid maternity leave becomes due to the employee after she has worked for the employer for a period of 36 months after the employment. So your casual labourer is not entitled to a paid maternity leave not because of the nature of her employment that she is a casual labourer but only because she has not worked for your organisation for 36 months from the date of her recruitment and hence does not qualify for the maternity leave on that ground only.