𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬 - 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗶 𝗟𝘁𝗱 𝘃. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗟𝘁𝗱 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 (𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀)

Here is a case summary in the matter between 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗶 𝗟𝘁𝗱 𝘃. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗟𝘁𝗱 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 (𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 - 𝗠𝗦𝗖𝗔 𝗖𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗼. 𝟯𝟰 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱

(An appeal from the High Court, Commercial Division, Lilongwe Registry, Commercial Case No. 259 of 202)

𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀

On 11 July, 2019, the respondent, a Malawian registered company, commenced this action against the Appellants claiming damages for breach of contract, the sum of US$300,000,000.00, interest on the claimed amount, the sum of US$l80,000,000 being indemnity due to the Malawi Government and its interest and legal collection costs.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁

The Appellants made an ex-parte application for an order of suspension of proceedings, which was granted. The said order suspended all proceedings under section 6(l) of the Arbitration Act. On 18th September 2024, the Respondent filed an application to set aside the order staying proceedings. The High Court found that arbitration had been had and was completed by termination. The application to set aside was therefore allowed. The appellant obtained leave to appeal.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀

At the hearing of the Appeal in the Supreme Court, the respondents raised a preliminary objection that the appeal was premature.

The court sustained the preliminary objection and proceeded to strike out the Appeal by Total Malawi for being incompetent and inchoate. The court also discharged the stay order granted by the High Court and directed that the matter should proceed for hearing on the merits before the High Court Commercial Division.

(𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒍:

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑙: 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐿. 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑘𝑜𝑝𝑎 𝑆𝐶, 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐹. 𝐾𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎, 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐻. 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑖, 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐼𝐶 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝑀𝐶𝐶 𝑀𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑤𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝑆. 𝐾𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑎 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐷. 𝑀𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴; 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝑅. 𝑀𝑏𝑣𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴 & 𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐷. 𝑛𝑦𝑎𝐾𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑆𝐶 𝐽𝐴

𝑳𝒂𝒘𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔:

𝑀𝑟. 𝑀. 𝑀𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎 & 𝑀𝑟. 𝑁. 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎, 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡

𝑀𝑟. 𝑊. 𝐾𝑖𝑡𝑎 & 𝑀𝑠. 𝐸. 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑖, 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 1𝑠𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡

𝐻𝑜𝑛. 𝐹. 𝑀𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑎, 𝐴𝐺 & 𝑀𝑟. 𝑁. 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑎, 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 2𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡)

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