Comesa Court rebuffs Malawi Govt
The Comesa Court sitting in Lusaka, Zambia, has thrown out an application by the Malawi Government which asked the court to drop a case where Malawi Mobile Limited (MML)—a private company that sought to establish a mobile phone business in the country—sued government and the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) for illegal termination of the contract.
The move means that the case will continue being heard by the court after government, through Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, sought the court to dismiss the matter on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction over the case.
However, the court has heeded part of Malawi Government’s submission on the removal of Macra as a party to the case.
The court has also dismissed a request by MML for the Malawi Government to bear the costs of the proceedings.
In an interview on Friday, Ministry of Justice spokesperson Apoche Itimu, who is among the State’s team of lawyers, confirmed the contents of the ruling by the panel of five judges.
“The ruling is as follows: 1. The preliminary application by the Applicant (Malawi government) has been dismissed entirely. 2. Macra has been removed as a party and the only party will be the
Government of Malawi. 3. The preliminary objection by government that the court has no jurisdiction has been dismissed. The court has ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the matter. That essentially means that it will proceed on the substantive issues,” Itimu said in a written response.
MML lawyer David Kanyenda welcomed the ruling but opted to focus on the forthcoming court battle.
“Government’s preliminary application on jurisdiction has been thrown out. Details are in the judgement. I am precluded from making extensive comments on the reference as it is still sub judice. I prefer to invest time and effort into commencement of earnest preparations for the main matter,” said Kanyenda.
The role played by Supreme Court judge Justice Rezine Mzikamanda in the delivery of the initial ruling that saved Macra from paying the company billions of taxpayer money in 2002, has become the central issue to the protracted legal tussle.
The company alleges that Justice Mzikamanda participated in the ruling yet he was not part of the team of judges that heard the matter.
MML’s contract was terminated by Macra over contractual disagreements which led to a protracted legal battle. At some point the High Court awarded MML $66 million as compensation before the Supreme Court reversed the ruling.
