The Industrial Relations Court (IRC) in Mzuzu has put aside implementation of an interim order granted to former Salima Sugar Company Limited (SSCL) chief security officer Osman Kapida reinstating him after dismissal.
The court has also dismissed Kapida’s application for contempt charges against SSCL executive chairperson and chief executive officer Wester Kosamu, company secretary Charles Thupi and acting chief finance officer Jimmy Kanyangala for allegedly ignoring court instructions.
On April 1 2025, the IRC granted Kapida an interim relief, which reinstated him, but the company has moved to appeal in the High Court of Malawi challenging that order.
Making his ruling on Thursday, IRC deputy chairperson Anthony Kapaswiche agreed with the respondent, SSCL, that it will be easy for the company to pay Kapida all his dues in case the appeal fails.
He said: “In the event that the appeal is granted in favour of the respondent, it means the applicant will have to leave his office and wait for the final conclusion of the matter which is an inconvenience to the stability of the respondent.
“This will also be unjust for the applicant as he will be subjected to the mental torture of being taken back to the office and being ordered again to leave office in the event of a successful appeal.”
After the ruling, one of the lawyers for SSCL, Chrispine Ndalama, said they were satisfied with it, more so that the company’s senior executives are off the hook on contempt charges.
“I am satisfied with the ruling, although I would have loved that the court could have used my affidavit as well which raised technical matters,” he said.
Kapaswiche also ordered the parties to proceed to file minutes for the pre-hearing conference as the record showed that the parties were already directed to hold a pre-hearing conference within 14 days from April 9 2025.
The Attorney General (AG) was added as an interested party in the case.
Kapida’s lawyer, Leonard Mbulo, did not attend the ruling. He also did not he respond to our calls on the matter.
Kapida was fired in 2024 over allegations of negligence, incompetence and serious misconduct.
The court ruled in his favour on April 1 2025, declaring his dismissal unlawful due to the absence of a legally constituted board at SSCL or its parent company, Green Belt Authority.
SSCL was established in 2015 as a public private partnership between the Malawi Government with a 40 percent stake and AUM Sugar and Allied Limited of India with 60 percent stake.
However, in 2023, Malawi Government terminated the shareholding due to alleged breach of contract after a forensic audit revealed that $35 million (about K61 billion) invested in the company could not be accounted for.
