State produce trader, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), has embarked on an eviction exercise for retrenched staff living in the company’s houses.
For example, two ex-employees who worked at Makota Market under Balaka Admarc Division and were part of the skeleton staff hired during the company’s transition period were evicted from staff houses on Thursday.
Officials at the Balaka Admarc division office confirmed the development, but referred us to their headquarters for an official comment.
The development comes amid a court order in a matter between ex-Admarc staff and Admarc dated November 21 2023, where the Industrial Relations Court (IRC) restrained the firm from conducting evictions until the determination of the main matter or a further order of the court.
In a written response on Friday, Admarc spokesperson Theresa Chapulapula said the company is evicting only those former employees who are not part of the IRC case that granted the injunction.
She stated that the injunction covers only those who are applicants in the case and does not cover every former employee.
Chapulapula also said they noted that some former employees who are not part of the case took advantage of the injunction and did not leave the houses.
She said: “In some instances, you even find some employees who were dismissed from employment or retired before the retrenchment in 2023 are still in the houses. Those are the ones we are evicting.”
Admarc director of corporate services Ethel Zilirakhasu gave former workers January 31 2025, and February 28 2025, as deadlines for them to vacate the houses.
But in a letter that we have seen dated January 25 2025, and addressed to Zilirakhasu, lawyer for the ex-staff Leonard Mbulo warned that he had instructions from his clients to launch contempt of court proceedings against her for defying the court order.
He stated that an order of any court must be complied with strictly in accordance with its terms, saying those who wish to get rid of the IRC order must do so through proper procedure.
He said: “You have been issuing various letters to our clients from November 2024 to January 2025, ordering them to vacate the institutional houses. Your letters constitute a clear case of contempt of court as you are disobeying the interim order of November 21 2023.”
According to sources, about 2 000 ex-Admarc employees are still occupying the institutional houses in different parts of the country.
The company earlier set May 31 2024 as deadline for the eviction of the former employees with Zilirakhasu stating that the time-frame for the exercise was four months from February 1 2024 to May 31 2024.
In January 2025, the courts froze Admarc’s bank accounts ordered the sheriff to seize its assets with the bone of contention being a K25 billion compensation award to 3 282 employees that the State produce trader retrenched in January 2023.
But Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale later said the ministry has been engaging the ex-employees, Admarc management, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, and the office of the Attorney General to resolve the issues.
In a circular dated January 30 2023, Admarc announced the retrenchment of all staff with effect from February 1 2023, as part of its restructuring process.
However, led by Alex Malikebu, the affected employees contested the decision in the IRC, challenging their dismissal as unjust.
The court granted the retrenched staff their wish in a November 15 2024 ruling, ordering Admarc to pay the former employees K25 billion, comprising K7 billion compensation for unfair dismissal and K18 billion for unfair labour practices.
But Admarc asked the court to put aside execution of the earlier order pending appeal of the judgement, and the IRC ordered Admarc to immediately pay K12.5 billion as part payment of the initial compensation award.
