High Court moves to Mulanje to gear a compensation case involving Escom

The High Court in Blantyre moved to Mulanje District on Thursday for continued hearing on different sites in a case where 459 villagers are claiming further compensations from Escom for pieces of land they were already compensated for by government and are still occupying it.

The court has adjourned the case to allow parties in the matter engage on some issues.

After the engagement, lawyer for the claimants, Patrick Kalanda, will re-examine Geoffrey Wawanya, a valuer who was called in as an expert witness.

AAttorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyidenda earlier in the day cross-examined Wawanya on six different sites.

The sites belong to different claimants claiming compensations ranging from K2 million to K10 milllion for houses that were demolished while others have their houses intact.

Ironically, most complainants are still using the land for gardening and are still living in houses they are claiming compensations for.

Assistant Registrar of the High Court and the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal Wyson Nkhata is hearing the case.

Wawanya admitted in cross-examination in the earlier hearing in Blantyre that most claimants were still occupying and using for gardening and dwelling the land they were compensated for.

Wawanya, a valuer, also told the court in Blantyre earlier that few people left after they were compensated.

He also admitted that a number of people got more money than what they should have based on the valuation made, further admitting that some names were repeated on the payment list, meaning others were paid twice.

The villagers are claiming they suffered the loss following installation of the electricity poles on their land under Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP).

The AG, representing Ministry of Energy, is persuading the court not to allow compensation payments on grounds that government already made compensations.

MAREP is an electrification project meant to increase access to electricity for people in peri-urban and rural areas as part of government’s efforts to reduce poverty, transform rural economies, improve productivity and improve the quality of social services.