Acceptance, It is defined under Section 2(1)(b)of the Law of Contract Act [ CAP .345 R.
E 2019] Which
state that in this act , unless the context otherwise required when the person to whom the proposal is
made signifies his assent thereto , the proposal is to be accepted and a proposal, when accepted become
a promise.Which mean signification of assent to the proposal by a person to whom it was made.
Acceptance must be absolute and unqualified i.e. final and conclusive , acceptance of the terms of an
offer. To make a binding contract the acceptance must exactly match the offer. And the offeree must
accept all the terms of the offer. The following are the five rules of a valid acceptance.
Intention to fulfill the promise : The first rule is that the acceptance must be made with the genuine
intention to accept the offer. This means that the party accepting must demonstrate a clear intention to be
bound by the terms of the offer. If there is any doubt or ambiguity regarding the acceptance, it may not be
considered valid. So must be willingly or intention to fulfill the promise and become a valid acceptance.
Example if Mr X agree to sell his house to Mrs Y for 2 lakh rupees but it later turns out that Mr X does not
actually own a house the acceptance become invalid. This is become Mr X had no intention to fulfill the
promise, any offer where is made the offeree must be willingly to accept the offer where is made.
Communication of Acceptance, where acceptance must be communicated to the offeror or their
authorized representative. Communication can be done in various ways such as orally, in writing, or even
through conduct, depending on what the mode of acceptance the offer allows or implies. Silence or
inaction generally cannot be considered as valid acceptance unless expressly specified in the offer.this
where provide under Section 3 of the Law of Contract Act [ CAP. 345 R.E 2019 ] state that the
communication of proposal, the acceptance of proposal are deemed to be made by any act or omission of
the party proposing , accepting by which he intends to communicate such proposal or acceptance and
which has the effects of communicating it . To be essential valid acceptance the offer must be
communicating. example of the case of Brogden v Metropolitan Rail Co (1877), Brogden had supplied the
railway company with coal for several years without any formal agreement. The parties then decided to
make things official, so the rail company sent Brogden a draft agreement, which left a blank space for
Brogden to insert the name of an arbitrator. After doing so and signing the document, Brogden returned it,
marked ‘approved’. The company’s employee put the draft away in a desk drawer, where it stayed for the
next two years, without any further steps being taken regarding it. Brogden continued to supply coal
under the terms of the contract, and the railway company to pay for it. Eventually a dispute arose
between them, and Brogden denied that any binding contract existed. The courts held that by inserting
the arbitrator’s name, Brogden added a new term to the potential contract, and therefore, in returning it
to the railway company, he was offering (in fact counter-offering) to supply coal under the contract. But
when was that offer accepted? The House of Lords decided that an acceptance by conduct could be
inferred from the parties’ behaviour, and a valid contract was completed either when the company first
ordered coal after receiving the draft agreement from Brogden, or at the latest when he supplied the first
lot of coal.This is where acceptance must be communication and it's essential valid acceptance from the
party
Acceptance without conditions , where this Provide under Section 7(1)(a) of the Law of Contract Act
[ CAP . 345 R.E 2019] state that in order to convert a proposal into a promise, the acceptance must be
absolute and unqualified. There acceptance should be absolute and without any conditions . When
someone accepts an offer, they must not add any conditions or change the offer . Doing so would create a
new offer called a counter offer so be valid must accept all condition of the offer. Example if Mr Juma kaja
offer to sell his car to Mr mkanura for 10 million and Mr mkanura accept but suggestions paying in
instalment instead, the original offer by Mr juma kaja no longer exists. This is because Mr mkanura change
the offer , creating a counter offer . This where the acceptance must be accepted without any conditions.
Acceptance must be within proscribed time: Acceptance must be made within the time frame specified in
the offer or within a reasonable time. If the offer specifies a particular deadline for acceptance, the
acceptance must be communicated before the deadline expires. If no timeframe is mentioned, the
acceptance should be made within a reasonable time, which varies depending on the circumstances of the
case.
Acceptance by the Offeree: Acceptance must be made by the party to whom the offer is made, also known
as the offeree. Only the offeree can accept the offer and create a binding contract. If someone other than
the offeree attempts to accept the offer, it will typically be considered invalid unless that person has the
legal authority to act on behalf of the offeree.
In generally a valid acceptance must be willingly where the party are agree to meet final conclusion
without the intention to fulfill the promise there is not valid acceptance also acceptance be valid must be
absolute and unqualified and must be the proposal prescribes a manner in which it is to be accepted.
