State faces Presidential convoy accident lawsuit
A former Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldier Anthony Mponda Junior, who was involved in a presidential convoy accident, is claiming K55.5 million from the State as compensation for injuries he sustained.
Mponda was among 11 soldiers that sustained various degrees of injuries when a vehicle they were travelling in overturned in June 2021 near HHI in Blantyre.
However, two soldiers, Corporal Sherrif Maulana and Corporal Gift Kachedwa of the Military Police Battalion were later pronounced dead.
“The claimant’s claim is for K55 500 000 damages for pain and loss of amenities of life, damages for disfigurement and loss of earning capacity,” reads the lawsuit filed in the civil registry of the High Court in Blantyre.
His lawyers Chimowa and Associates argue that their client sustained serious injuries.
“Particulars of injuries and damage [are] ankle fracture of the left leg, penetrating wound on the right leg posterior aspect, left leg profunda [and] laceration left foot,” details the lawsuit.
The legal action attributes the accident to negligence and marks the vehicle’s driver Yusuf Chiotha as the first defendant while the Attorney General and the MDF are second defendants.
“The first defendant particulars of negligence [are] over-speeding; driving too fast under the circumstances; failing to keep any proper lookout [and] failing to reduce speed or in any other way so to manage or control the said Toyota Land Cruiser as to avoid the motor vehicle overturning and swerving off the road,” it reads in part.
The defendants, according to the claim, have 14 days to indicate their “intention not to contest the proceedings” or 28 days to file a defence.
Nation on Sunday has gathered that the other eight soldiers and the two deceased families have also not been compensated.
The suit comes after Mponda, who was discharged from the MDF on an unrelated disciplinary issue in May last year, filed a notice of intention to sue the State for the accident.
Attorney General Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda had not responded to our questionnaire we sent on Friday to find out if they have been served.
However, the driver, who is the first defendant, said he does not know anything about the issue. In a response to our questionnaire, Chiotha responded: “Not yet served and it’s news to me.
