Suing City Council for negligence
Few years ago I fell into a rain storm drainage that had no cover on a pedestrian lane and fractured my shoulder. Please advise if I can see the City Council or the Municipality concerned for the cost of surgery, hospitalization and loss of working days, trauma and other relevant damages?
MK, Arusha
Our understanding of your question is that the accident happened some years back. Unfortunately, you haven’t disclosed to us the number of years which have lapsed from the date when you fell into the uncovered storm drainage. We are mindful of the time because the Law of Limitation Act, Cap. 89, puts a limit of 3 years for one to pursue a suit founded on tort against a negligent defendant, as is the case here.
Take further note that before suing a City Council or Municipality, you need to give them a 90 days notice. The notice of intention to sue should be served as required under Section 106 (1) (a) of the Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act [Cap. 288 R.E.2019] as amended by Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, No. 1 of 2020 which is to the effect that no suit shall be commenced against an Urban Authority unless a 90 days notice of intention to sue is served upon that local government, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General.
After satisfying yourself that you are still within the time limitation in which you can institute a suit founded on tort and also serving the 90 days notice as stated above, you can institute a suit against the respective urban authority. For the case based on tort of negligence to stand there are five elements which the Court will consider before awarding your claims. First, you should prove that the urban authority owed you a duty of care not to cause you or others harm and, secondly, that there was a violation of a standard of care which resulted into you falling into the uncovered storm drainage. Third, you should be able to prove a correlation between the negligent or harmful action of the authority and the negative consequence you suffered. Fourth, you should prove that there was a direct link between a negligent act and the injury that resulted from that action (proximate cause). Lastly you must prove that you indeed suffered injuries, loss, or other expenses because of the urban authority negligence. Your attorney can guide you further.