Former Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) chief executive officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda is demanding more than half a million United States dollars in compensation for being removed from ESCOM and seconded to the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences.
Kumwenda argues that the secondment, despite fulfilling his contractual duties, is a breach of his contract as the corporation’s chief executive. The compensation demand was revealed during High Court proceedings to vacate an injunction that Kumwenda obtained to stop his redeployment.
Attorney General Frank Mbeta successfully applied for the discharge of the judicial review order, submitting that Kumwenda had already lodged a K1.1 billion (more than US$600 thousand) claim before the Industrial Relations Court. Mbeta told the court that Kumwenda failed to disclose this claim when seeking the injunction.
The Attorney General also contended that the compensation request demonstrates that Kumwenda is pursuing an employment matter that falls within the jurisdiction of the Industrial Relations Court.
Mbeta further argued that since Kumwenda and former human resources and administration director Chrispin Banda maintain their contracts were unlawfully terminated, they must present their complaint to the Industrial Relations Court, which handles employment disputes.
The High Court Civil Division in Blantyre has agreed with the Attorney General’s argument and therefore dismissed the judicial review order that Kumwenda and Banda had obtained. Kumwenda has been seconded to MUBAS, while Banda has been redeployed to the Malawi School of Government.
