Judiciary, Cdedi meet on sugar injunctions

The Judiciary has pledged to follow up on two court injunctions Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc obtained last year restraining the Malawi Government from effecting a 25 percent sugar price reduction.

High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Kondwani Banda made the pledge yesterday after a closed-door meeting with representatives of Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) in Lilongwe.

The Judiciary invited Cdedi to the meeting following a request the organisation made to Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda to intervene.

Banda was not available after the meeting, which lasted for almost two hours, but Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa confirmed meeting Judiciary where the “registrar pledged to follow up on this particular matter and promised to revert”.

He said they were pleased to have had candid and insightful conversation and that the registrar and his assistant Florence Msekandiwana demonstrated what it means to work in a public office.

Said Namiwa: “However, listening to the registrar it is apparent that our judiciary is going through turbulent moments. For instance, we have learnt that this whole arm of government only gets around 0.3 percent of the national budget irrespective of its huge workload.

“He [Banda] nonetheless assured that judicial officers are committed to their work irrespective of such challenges and committed to be held accountable.”

In its letter to the Chief Justice dated May 8 2024, Cdedi said expediting the matter would “not only ensure that justice is served, but is also seen to be delivered”.

The High Court granted Illovo the first injunction on September 7, 2023 sparing it from prosecution for alleged unfair competition after an investigation by the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) allegedly found the company guilty of unfair trading practices.

The CFTC then applied to have the injunction vacated on September 20, 2023 and hearing on the matter took place on October 24, 2023.

But six months down the line, judgement has not been delivered on the matter.

Cdedi’s request to the Chief Justice came barely a week after it made a similar request to Attorney General imploring him to swiftly act on the two injunctions.