The High Court of Malawi has given about 236 vendors operating at Kamba Market in Blantyre interim relief by stopping Blantyre City Council and CPT Investment from evicting them and demolishing the structure.
In his ruling, presiding judge Jack N’riva also granted the traders permission to start judicial review proceedings into the council’s decision allegedly undertaken without proper consultations or providing a suitable relocation place for them.
The developments come after the council entered into a partnership with the Lilongwe-based private investor CPT Investment to redevelop the market area by constructing a K2 billion one-stop-commercial centre that would include a shopping mall and fuel service station.
Following the court order dated February 18 2025, an inter-partes hearing was scheduled for yesterday, but the council requested an adjournment to allow it prepare relevant documentation.
“An order of injunction restraining the defendant either by themselves or servants, agents or whomsoever from continuing with the demolition of Kamba Market be and is hereby granted pending the inter-partes hearing and determination of an order of injunction,” reads the order in the Judicial Review Case Number 7 of 2025.
One of the lawyers representing the vendors, Davis Njobvu, in an interview yesterday described the action as a “positive development and huge relief” for the vendors and the surrounding community that relies on the market for everyday needs.
He said: “In principle, we do not have a problem with the request for adjournment because there is need for them [the council] to provide all the relevant information as a public authority in order for the court to reach a fair and just determination balancing the public and private interests in the matter.”
In the judicial review case, the vendors, led by Gilbert Mbiri, want the court to declare that their eviction from the market without informing them about the processes leading to the sale and lease of the public market as required by law is unlawful and unreasonable.
The vendors also want the court to quash the council’s decision to evict them from the market and proceeding with the construction plans.
On his part, Mbiri said they resolved to obtain an injunction due to the inhumane conduct of the authorities from the council and the private investor.
“We are being treated as if we are foreigners. We were given an order to vacate the place by March 31 2025, unfortunately, all of a sudden they have raided the place and started demolishing the stalls before the expiry of the deadline,” he lamented.
