Harold Ayodo

Prospective investors, sellers and agents strike major deals in the most unlikely of places.

Transactions of cars, homes and other properties are often made in coffee outlets or pubs.

"Let us meet in town over a cup of tea or a drink after work and discuss it," is a popular phrase among many in Nairobi. There are many successful deals that come out of such meetings, however, some of them have turned sour.

Beer influence, for instance, may lead a seller to enter a written agreement with a buyer to sell her Toyota Primera at Sh250,000 instead of the market price of say Sh600,000.

And a house owner, when drunk, may also agree to sell his two-bedroom house in Umoja Estate at Sh2 million instead of Sh4.5 million. These drunken sellers gleefully append their signatures, thinking they have made a fortune until the following day when reality dawns on them.

Attempts to revoke the contract will obviously be met with resistance and threats of legal action.

Disputes

Business partners have turned foes as disputes over reneged agreements end up in commercial courts. Sellers cite drunkenness as their only defense as buyers seek monetary damages, accusing the seller of breach of contract.

Usually, the law gives the benefit of doubt to a person who proves that they were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the deal. Some courts may not pass their decisions based on the intoxication of a party, but the inequitable attempt to take advantage of a person in a weaker position.

The intention of the law is to protect people from their own deficiencies and others who may attempt to rip them off. It must be proved that the affected person did not fully appreciate what he was doing and the other party was aware of the inability.

Generally, the law does not punish a person who makes a contract while mentally ill or under the influence of drink.

Ironically, if proved that both parties were drunk when making the contract they would be bound by their agreement since none would take advantage of the other.

However, a drunken man who enters into a contract may ratify it when sober without attracting legal disputes.

The writer is a lawyer and journalist.