Firm claims K214m from JB
South Africa-based Engelec International Limited (EIL) has taken to court former president Joyce Banda (JB) and her Mudzi Transformation Trust for allegedly failing to pay about K214 million (3.4 million rand) for materials supplied to the trust.
In a civil case number 1428 of 2015 between the company and the registered trustees of Mudzi Transformation Trust fund as first defendant and Banda as the second defendant, a court consent order directed that the defendants—Banda and Mudzi Trust—pay EIL about K20 million as part payment to their claim.
In its claim, the company demanded about 3.4 million rand from the Trust for payment for materials, including iron sheets, in the Mudzi Transformation Trust project.
However, court records show that Banda and her trust on one hand and EIL on the other agreed that a part payment of K20 million be paid by January 31 2018 which has not been paid up to date.
But lawyer representing the trust and the former president, Lusungu Gondwe, has distanced the former president from the claim, saying the trust is the one which owes the company.
He said: “I can confirm that I am representing both of them, but the former president should not be associated with the money. It is the trust that owes the company, but both of them have been sued by the company.”
Lawyer representing EIL, Powell Nkhutabasa, said in an interview yesterday they will take to court the former president and the trust over a failed deal after the two decided to settle their issue out of courts.
He said: “The matter is already in court. There are materials that were supplied to the trust and the money for the materials hasn’t been paid until now.
“In fact, the trust owes the company over K600 million. The K20 million we are talking about here is part payment which was supposed to be paid by 31st January 2018, but up to date they haven’t paid.
“We have given them a grace period. We are waiting for her to pay; otherwise, procedures have to be followed on the non-payment.”
Mudzi Transformation Trust was established through the Trustees Incorporation Act in 2013 to build houses for vulnerable people with a target of 20 000 villages nationwide, but it has remained inactive since Banda went out of government following her loss in the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections.
When Banda left office in 2014, just over 500 houses had been built.
Beneficiaries of the trust’s projects were expected to make their contributions through inputs such as bricks and sand towards the projects of their choice.
The project was launched at Nthoso Village, Traditional Authority Khongoni in Lilongwe in May 2013.
In December last year, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) opened a probe into donations made to Mudzi Transformation Trust, but the graft-busting body refused to indicate whether Banda was also under probe.
