LEGAL DEFINITION OF A BUYER

by Mercy Maina,

A buyer is a person who buys or agrees to buy goods. To buy is simply to agree to have the property in a good transferred to you pursuant to a contract. In determining who a buyer is in a contract, regard must be had to the terms of the contract. The terms of the contract should show the intention of the parties as to who was meant to supply goods (seller) and who was meant to receive supply of those goods (buyer).

In the case of John Nderebe Kahuthia t/a Kirurumo Filling Station v Jaribu Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd [2016] eKLR the court observed that a contract can only exist between the supplier and the consumer. Payment may be made by the consumer or another third party on behalf of the consumer but that cannot be implied as giving rise to a contract between the supplier and the third party. The contract will still be between the supplier and the consumer.

In the case of John Nderebe Kahuthia t/a Kirurumo Filling Station v Jaribu Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd [2016] eKLR the issue of who a buyer was in a contract arose out of an agreement which was evidenced by a letter which read in part;

“Please issue fuel worth 3,500/= daily to  Jaribu Farmers Co-operative Society. They have been contracted by NKCC to transport milk for Passenga Scheme and Siranga Scheme.  Payments will be made monthly by themselves on payment of their milk transport dues.

Yours faithfully

For New KCC LTD

The Respondents denied the existence of the contract claiming that the contract existed between the appellant as the seller and NKCC as the buyer. The court held that as per the wording of the letter, the supplier of fuel was the Appellant while the consumer was the Respondents. In that regard the court concluded that the Respondent was the buyer.

In determining who a buyer is, the court will give regard to the wording of a contract. As was stated in Jiwaji & Others -vs- Jiwaji & Another (1968) EA 547:

“--- where there is no ambiguity in an agreement it must be construed according to the clear words actually used by the parties, and it would be wrong to adopt a different construction or to imply a term to contrary effect. --- I think I am not entitled to put into the instrument something which I did not find there in order.”

Therefore, who a buyer is in a contract will largely depend on the intention of the parties as expressed in the terms of their agreement. The easy and quick way to discover who a buyer is in a contract is to evaluate who is receiving the goods. Even if the goods are received on his behalf by a third party or payment made by a third party on his behalf. The buyer will still be the person who the parties intended to supply the goods to.