The tabling and passing of Electricity (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, paving way for the government to split Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom), into two entities may be in contempt of court as some people obtained an injunction in May this year to stop the unbundling.
The court granted the injunction on May 27 2016 and Escom stamped it to acknowledge receipt on June 1 2016.
According to court documents, some of the corporation’s employees and residents of a village adjacent to Kapichira Power Station in Chikwawa, through their lawyers KPMJ & Associates, obtained the said injunction to force the power utility provider to pay them money totaling to over K1 billion.
A copy of an order, titled ‘Injunction prohibiting disposal/ dissipation or distribution of assets or otherwise unbundling the corporation known as Escom/ defendant herein,’ shows that there are three groups of people challenging the unbundling based on three separate matters.
Government is unbundling Escom with technical and financial support from a US$350.1 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Malawi compact which will see the power utility company split into two entities: one responsible for power generation and the other for distribution.
The disgruntled groups are arguing that in the event that the corporation is unbundled, it is not clear as to who or which entity will be responsible or liable to compensate them.
In the first matter, Escom employees suing as S. Nkhoma and 208 others, who were working as security guards for the corporation were purportedly made to work for extra hours without just or due compensation.
Although the skeletal arguments in support of an injunction show that Escom tried to compensate the concerned workers, the payments were not commensurate with the excess hours the employees claimed and later the corporation just sent them on forced leave as settlement.
“The plaintiffs are, therefore, claiming compensation due to them consistent with their rights under the Constitution and applicable employment and labour laws. Preliminary calculations show that the plaintiffs are owed about K926, 825, 070.00,” the application reads.
In the second matter, another group of Escom employees, N. Katengedza and 10 others, is claiming compensation for not being paid allowances at the time they were staying in the corporation’s quarters and outside despite the requirement to do so upon transferring employee to another station.
“The Plaintiffs were either placed in quarters, or, some are in quarters and/ or others had to even pay for their own (offsite) rentals without receiving the allowances provided in the employee handbook. The plaintiffs therefore claim compensation for themselves and their families, consistent with the executed contractual agreement, for the time or duration they were housed in quarters. Preliminary calculations show that the Plaintiffs herein are owed about K13, 341, 000.00,” the other part of the application reads.
In the third matter, L. Naisoni and seven others, who are peasant farmers and owners of the land adjacent to Kapichira Power Station, claim that during the construction of the station, they were asked to temporarily move from the land to avoid injury during Escom’s blasting operations.
However, the farmers claim their attempts to move back to their land after the completion of the project were in vain as the corporation denied them access stating that it owned the land.
“The defendant [Escom] further unlawfully prevented the plaintiffs [farmers] from gainfully, quietly and peacefully enjoying of their land. The plaintiffs have begun by originating summons a claim for, amongst other remedies, declarations by the court that they are the rightful owners of the land in contention and for mense profits. The preliminary calculations show that the plaintiffs herein are owed about K110, 000,000.00,” the document reads.
Escom Public Relation Officer Kitty Chingota said the corporation’s legal manager would be in office yesterday afternoon.
“I will send you the responses immediately I receive them but very unlikely today [yesterday] because the lawyer is presently not available,” Chingota said.
In an interview Thursday, Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bright Msaka said he was not aware of the development and would consult for details of the matter in question.
He, however, said the fears raised may be immaterial as after the unbundling either of the two entities will still have more than K1 billion in their bank accounts.
“When we decided to unbundle the corporation, we looked at both merits and demerits of the decision. I don’t know anything about the issue but I don’t think either of the two entities that will come out of Escom will not be able to raise K1 billion to compensate employees or whosoever. Of course, I am not the corporation’s lawyer but if they win a case against Escom, they will get their compensation,” Msaka said.
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