Commercial Law

1. Wafula is a lecturer in Biology at Masinde Muliro University, and a keen gardener with a large orange farm. Netgrow Ltd is a manufacturer of gardening requisites, and has a number of retail outlets from which they sell their own products and those of other manufacturers. Last March wafula visited one of these outlets to buy fertiliser. In the past, he had always used a top brand, but was hoping to find something cheaper. He looked at several types of fertiliser on display, noted the widely differing prices, and read the promotional leaflets. He studied the chemical composition of each fertiliser, given in the leaflets. Some fertilisers required application to the roots, others to leaves. He then sought the advice of the only available sales assistant, a youth who did not seem to know much about the products on sale. The sales assistant recommended that Wafula should buy Netgrow Ltd's 'Orange Gro', which, at Ksh 60,000, was considerably cheaper than all other brands in stock. Wafula decided to buy a sack of Orange Gro', and was given a sales invoice to sign, which stated: Netgrow Ltd agree to refund the purchase price paid for any goods which fail to conform with commercially recognised standards of quality or with any description applied to them. Any damages or compensation payable shall not exceed the purchase price of the goods sold. All claims against Netgrow Ltd must be made within 21 days of purchase. Netgrow Ltd does not give any undertaking as to the suitability or fitness of goods purchased for any particular purpose. Wafula paid for the fertiliser and signed the invoice without reading it. The instructions on the fertiliser stated: "Spray once on leaves and fruit during June or July in dry weather", and gave details of dosage rates. Wafula duly sprayed his orange trees on a sunny day in July, but that night there was a heavy rainstorm, which washed away some of the fertiliser before it took effect. Wafula did not realise that rain could wash away the fertiliser and no specific statement to this effect was contained in the instructions. The fertilisers Wafula had previously used were applied to the tree roots and were not affected by rain.it was contained in the instructions. The fertilisers Wafula had previously used were applied to the tree roots and were not affected by rain. When the trees produced fruit, the Oranges were small and sour. Though Wafula had previously sold most of his Orange crop to a local greengrocer and had won prizes for his oranges at local horticultural shows, this crop could not be sold or entered for shows. As a result, Wafula became depressed, his lecturing work suffered, and he was not even shortlisted for a promotion which most of his colleagues thought he would get. Wafula now wishes to sue Netgrow Ltd for all compensation possible, including the purchase price of the fertiliser, loss of profit on sale of the orange crop, loss of prize money from shows, stress, and loss of the increase in salary he would have got on promotion. Netgrow Ltd deny liability, and argue that, in any event, they are protected by the invoice terms from any liability beyond the purchase price paid by Wafula