Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) Board Chairperson, Bishop Joseph Bvumbwe, and other members of the board risk imprisonment following failure by the energy-regulator to reinstate Raphael Kamoto as Chief Executive Officer.
Judge Charles Mkandawire on Monday last week granted Kamoto leave to apply for an order of committal after an application was filed at the High Court in Lilongwe through lawyer George Mtchuka Mwale.
Kamoto was dismissed on February 6, 2017, over issues surrounding Mera’s purchase of 10,000 metric tonnes of maize for Admarc using K2.9 billion from the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF). However, on March 16, 2017, he obtained an injunction restraining Mera from dismissing him.
Apart from Bvumbwe, other Mera board members who may be imprisoned for contempt of the court are Felisa Kilembe, Peterson Zembani, Khwauli Msiska, Patrick Matanda and Lewis Mhango.
In an affidavit he swore on March 23, 2017 in support of an ex-parte application for leave to apply for an order of committal, Kamoto says when he reported for work on March 20, 2017, he was informed that he would not be allowed to work as Chief Executive Officer as he was on suspension.
In the affidavit, Kamoto also says Mera’s lawyer, Gabriel Chembezi, wrote his lawyer informing him about his suspension at Mera. Kamoto, however, says there is no reference in the injunction to the effect that he would revert to being suspended from employment.
“Such an interpretation would be preposterous because I can only be on suspension if I am waiting for a disciplinary hearing at a future date. This is not the case in the present circumstances,” reads the affidavit.
It adds: “That the defendant’s action in preventing me from resuming my duties is in utter disregard of the order of injunction. That it is my respectful submission that unless the defendant’s board is committed to prison for contempt of court, they are likely going to continue to disobey the said order which was duly served on them.”
The Daily Times has seen the letter Chembezi sent to Kamoto’s lawyer. In the letter, Chembezi says the reading of the injunction shows that it is only against Kamoto’s dismissal.
“We, therefore, write to inform you that our client will duly comply with the order of the court prohibiting them from dismissing your client. This means that your client will revert to his status in Mera before his dismissal; that is Mera’s Chief Executive Officer on suspension on half pay,” reads the letter, dated March 17, 2017.
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