AG, Mulli tussle over bus depots

 Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda is locked in a legal battle with National Bus Services Limited to reclaim bus depots which the company manages, but the AG claims were not transferred to it.

The nationwide bus depots are now under the privately-owned National Bus Services, run by Leston Mulli, the claimant in the matter, who bought the State-owned bus company following the 2007 voluntary liquidation.

The bone of contention in the case is that the bus company claims government, as part of the deal, also gave them the depots and some land, but Chakaka-Nyirenda on Tuesday told the Commercial Division of the High Court in Blantyre there was no transfer of land.

While the AG is claiming there was no evidence the depots were transferred, the bus company, among other areas, is building its case on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which government wanted to use to reinvest in the State company, taking on board the claimant in this case and other players through a public-private partnership (PPP).

The reinvestment failed and the voluntary liquidation followed. National Bus Services Limited is challenging the liquidator, Bofomo Nyirenda, who at some time wanted to sell the depots but was stopped by an injunction the company obtained. The liquidator is being represented by lawyer Modecai Msiska.

On the other hand, the AG, the second defendant in the matter representing the State, has his focus on reclaiming the depots currently being managed by National Bus Services.

The AG after the court session said in an interview he believed this is one of the cases State entities were ransacked and he declared he would continue with the fight to reclaim what belongs to the government.

But business tycoon Mulli, chairperson of Mulli Group of Companies, a mother company that bought the State bus company, accused the AG of witch-hunting as he wants to embark on a mission to resurrect dead issues under which State firms were duly and legally privatised many years ago.

The targeted bus depots the government wants to reclaim are

Lilongwe, Wenela in Blantyre, Kasungu and Mzimba.

During Tuesday’s court session before Justice Jabbar Alide, Chakaka-Nyirenda told the court that all three injunctions obtained by National Bus Services Limited and the court proceedings commenced by it were wrongly granted and the proceedings wrongly commenced.

He said there was no document that supports the argument that the properties that were previously owned by Shire Bus Lines Limited were transferred to National Bus Services Limited by the Malawi Government or (PPPC) Public Private Commission Partnership.

“Even if there were such documents, such transfer could be invalid as the Malawi Government or PPPC have not validly transferred the said property because they lacked legal title to the said property,” the AG told the court.

Chakaka-Nyirenda said the bus firm, when commencing proceedings before Justice [Rowland] Mbvundula and before the Commercial Division, suppressed the fact that it had previously commenced proceedings before Justice [Chifundo] Kachale.

The AG asked the court to dispose of the matter with costs.

But the position of National Bus Services Limited, as presented by a team of lawyers led by Lusungu Gondwe, is that government gave the company depots, workshops and all landed property owned by Shire Bus Lines Limited.

They argued the government does not have any right of possession of the depots and all landed properties.

The claimant also brought to the attention of the court the MoU government had prepared earlier when it wanted to reinvest in the company alongside other private companies, but failed,

was supposed to be understood in the context.
The lawyers argued the claimant and the State had agreed that the landed property which was vested in Shire Bus Lines Limited and/or subsequently in the liquidator would be transferred to an asset holding company.
The claimant, through their lawyers, told the court it appeared the transfer was not effected as their search at the Land Registry reveals that the bus terminals do not belong to the liquidated Shire Bus Lines, but to different proprietors such as Stagecoach, Nyasaland Transport Company and others.

The claimant argued in a sworn statement: “In any event, we have been operating these depots for over 12 years and we legitimately expected to continue to do so.”
The court learnt that when the liquidator advertised the depots for sale and when civil and town councils attempted to take possession of the depots and workshops, the bus firm obtained an injunction to stop the processes.
The court learnt earlier that National Bus Services on September 27 2013 commenced proceedings against the PPPC.
National Bus Services Limited, the court learnt, also obtained an order of injunction restraining the PPPC from evicting it from the bus depots.
By letter dated January 20 2020, the court learnt through the AG, Secretary for Local Government and Rural Development directed the Lilongwe City Council, Kasungu Municipal Council, Blantyre City Council and M’mbelwa District Council to take over management of Wenela, Lilongwe, Kasungu and Mzimba bus terminals respectively with immediate effect.
But the bus company responded to the ministry on January 30 2020 that the assets were transferred to National Bus Services Limited by the Malawi Government as an incentive for National Bus Services Limited to operate in less profitable remote roads which meant huge maintenance costs for their buses.
Justice Alide adjourned the case to a later date to be communicated to enter judgement