Malawi Government and Prima Fuels Limited joint bid for an K824 billion ($480 million) breach of contract claim from TotalEnergies Marketing Malawi has stalled due to lack of witnesses, it has emerged.
Judiciary spokesperson Ruth Mputeni said in a written response yesterday that the matter was initially scheduled for trial from May 12 to 15 2026 in the High Court of Malawi Commercial Division, but a number of issues, including witness availability merged prior to the hearing date.
She said the office of the Attorney General (AG) indicated that some of its intended witnesses are yet to be secured because they have retired while others have since passed away.
“Consequently, the AG’s office requested additional time within which to file their witness statements. The court granted the AG up to May 15 2026 to do so,” said Mputeni.
In February, AG Frank Mbeta indicated that the matter would proceed for trial in Malawi on April 27 2026 after TotalEnergies made an interim withdrawal of its quest for fresh arbitration in South Africa.
When contacted yesterday, Mbeta said there were outstanding procedural issues but indicated that parties were in the process of filing relevant documentation.
However, he did not explain how far his office had gone with securing witnesses for the case as the deadline approaches on Friday.
In January 2026, TotalEnergies made an interim withdrawal of its quest for fresh arbitration in South Africa after its lawyers in that country, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, made correspondence that the matter was discontinued temporarily.
However, lawyers for the firm had indicated that their client did not agree with the judgement made the same month by Kalua who stopped TotalEnergies from seeking fresh arbitration in South Africa.
The judge said allowing parallel proceedings would undermine the authority of Malawian courts and erode judicial integrity, emphasising that the Supreme Court of Appeal had already directed how the matter should proceed.
On November 4 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed an application by TotalEnergies Marketing Malawi seeking to halt the proceedings. A nine-member panel of justices ordered that the matter revert to the High Court for determination on the merits.
The Malawi Government is claiming K824 billion (about $480 million) for breach of contract. Of the amount, $180 million relates to unpaid fuel rebates allegedly owed to the government while $300 million is claimed by Prima Fuels.
