LUANAR Students petition Chief Justice on Fargo Case
Students from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources LUANAR have petitioned chief Justice of Malawi to intervene in the delay to conclude a court case between the school and Fargo Limited
In a letter to Supreme Court of Malawi the LUANAR students say are suffering due to misuse of judicial powers by commercial division of High court specifically under the actions of Justice Ken Manda
Signed by president of students union representative council Overton Jere the letter demands that the injunction be vacated to allow LUANAR recover funds and resume construction project and the case be reassigned to another judge who will ensure a fair and timely hearing for all parties involved
According to LUANAR students’ union council the university awarded a contract to Fargo Limited for the construction of a much needed teaching complex at NRC Campus
However despite receiving a substantial sum of money Fargo failed to fulfill terms of the contract, as a result LUANAR rightfully terminated the agreement and sought to recover the funds by cashing out security and performance bonds with FDH bank.
Before LUANAR could recover the funds, Fargo approached the commercial court and was granted an ex parte injunction, preventing the university from accessing the money
President of the students union says this injunction was issued without LUANAR being given an opportunity to present its case, an apparent violation of the principle that both sides should be heard before justice is served
Jere says the judge who is responsible for handling the case has not scheduled any hearing leaving the matter unresolved
To them this delay raises concerns that the commercial court is deliberately stalling until the security and performance bonds expire which would reslt in a significant loss not only for LUANAR but for the students who are the ultimate victims of the judicial delay
They say because of this unjust delay, construction of the teaching complex has not even begun but the students face critical shortage of classroom space although they were assured by the university that it would be completed by the end of this year
The LUANAR students believe that this deadline is now impossible to meet because of the current impasse leaving their education in jeopardy, violating their right to education as enshrined in the constitution
President of students’ union representative council has warned that if they do not receive response within 7 days they will camp at the office of chief justice until their demands are addressed
Responding,
Judge Ken Manda has refused to entertain any applications regarding the court case between Fargo Limited and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
In his ruling Manda said this follows the sentiments that have been expressed over this matter in various social media platforms
According to him he ceased to have jurisdiction on the case on 14th March this year.
Manda said the matter was set down for hearing on Thursday 17th October but they cannot conduct the hearing because of lack of capacity to do so
He further said did not see any reason to wait till Thursday to state what is obvious adding was compelled to call for and examine the court file on account that in his reconciliation the matter was no longer supposed to be pending before him
“The matter was referred for arbitration on 14th March therefore that court ceded jurisdiction to an arbitrator and cannot exercise jurisdiction over the matter,” says Manda
The judge stated that if there have been delays over the matter then the same will have to be squared on the lawyers representing the parties as they were supposed to have agreed on a choice of arbitrator
Judge Manda finds it unfortunate and unacceptable especially if one considers the experiences of counsel on record.
