Offer and acceptance of an offer in law of contract in Tanzania. By Johnson Yesaya.

Scenario.

Mwanacitizen newspaper advert placed by Babu wa Loliondo stated 10, 000,000/= TShs. reward will be paid by him to any person who contracts corona disease after having used his home-made herb three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions supplied with each milk bottle. 

10, 000,000/= TShs is deposited with the Watupori Bank, showing our sincerity in the matter. Zuchu purchased that herb and used them according to the directions, still caught corona. With aid of relevant legal authorities, answer the following: -

(i) Was there a contract between BABU WA LOLIONDO and ZUCHU?

(ii) If yes, what kind of contract?

(iii) Can ZUCHU sue successfully BABU WA LOLIONDO?

Answers.

WAS THERE A CONTRACT BETWEEN BABU WA LOLIONDO AND ZUCHU

Yes, there was a contract between Babu wa Loliondo and Zuchu. A contract is a creature of the law, which has been made by following required legal steps to complement a legally accepted contract. To form a contract there must be two important elements which are offer or proposal and acceptance of that offer or proposal, Section 3 of The Law of Contracts Act  provide details on the accepted legal communication between offeror and offeree during the process of entering into a contract by parties.

Back to our scenario, Babu wa Loliondo through mwanacitizen newspaper advert, stated 10,000,000Tsh/= reward will be paid to all buyers who will contract Corona after the use of his home made herb, to insist that, a total of said money was deposited at Watupori Bank, he meant that his herb was an actual protection against corona. That was an offer and it was already communicated to public, and one “Zuchu” accepted the offer by purchasing the herb and use it according to the directions given, but she still caught corona. As per section 4 of The Law of Contract Act , the communication of offer and acceptance was complete between Zuchu and Babu Wa Loliondo and the contract was already made.

IF YES, WHAT KIND OF CONTRACT

A contract entered between the parties was a unilateral agreement, a unilateral agreement is a contract in which only one party makes an express promise, or undertakes a performance without first securing a reciprocal agreement from the other party

In a unilateral, or onesided contract, one party, known as the offeror, makes a promise in exchange for an act (or abstention from acting) by another party, known as the offeree. If the offeree acts on the offeror's promise, the offeror is legally obligated to fulfill the contract, but an offeree cannot be forced to act (or not act), because no return promise has been made to the offeror. After an offeree has performed, only one enforceable promise exists, that of the offeror.

The most famous case is that of Carlil v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. The company manufactured what it considered to be a perfect prevention of the common cold. With confidence, the company advertised:

£100 reward will be paid by the carbolic smoke ball co to any person who contacts the increasing epidemic influenza, colds, or any disease by taking cold, after having used the ball three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions supplied with each ball. £1000 is deposited with the Alliance Bank, Regent Street showing our sincerity in the matter.

The advertisement continued to state that during the last epidemic of influenza many thousands of carbolic smoke balls were sold and the company knew of nobody who used the balls and contracted the disease.

It was held that the advertisement was an offer and was not intended to be a mere puff

CAN ZUCHU SUE SUCCESSFULLY BABU WA LOLIONDO

Yes, Zuchu may sue successful in the situation of the scenario because Babu wa Loliondo fraudulently convinced another party to enter into a fraud contract. An affected party in a fraudulently entered contract may decide to sue for damages or recovery of loss.

A person commits contract fraud when they make a knowingly untrue statement which aims to deceive another person into signing a contract, provided under section 17(1) and (2) of The Law of Contract Act 

REFERENCE

STATUTES

THE LAW OF CONTRACTS ACT, CAP 345 R:E 2002

CASE LAWS

Carlil v. Carbolic Smoke Ball EWCA Civ 1,,1 qb 256

ONLINE SOURCE

1.https://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Unilateral+Contract

2.https://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Unilateral+Contract