JUDGMENT
The respondents to this appeal were the plaintiffs in a suit filed in the High Court, in which they claimed from the appellant the sum of Shs 29,400 being arrears of site value tax allegedly payable by the appellant as its share of that tax on a shop leased by the appellant from the respondents. The appellant’s liability to pay tax was, according to the plaint, based on an oral agreement made “during the year 1969”. The appellant by its defence pleaded, inter alia, that it was for the respondents to pay the tax claimed, and that the appellant could not be made liable for it save under a written agreement. This defence was based on item (IX) of the “Terms and Conditions to be Implied in Tenancies” in the schedule to the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act. Item (IX) reads as follows: “The lessor shall pay all rates, taxes, and similar outgoings unless the lessee is responsible therefore under any written agreement.”
The respondents were put on the…