Twist to Kanengo Filling Station saga as court orders Master Borehole to prove their income 

In a dramatic turn of events, the Lilongwe Commercial Division of the High Court has ordered Masters Borehole Drilling Limited, a company belonging to Alfred Gangata, to produce documents within 14 days from today including National Construction Industry Council registration certificate and the Council’s levy payment records  for the year 2020.

The court believes the documents will assist the court to understand the profits made by Masters Borehole Drilling Company in the years before 2021 and help to assess the financial performance of the company.

Anthony Kapaswiche, who is Assistant Registrar of the court,  has given the direction in his ruling on an application by Gelesoni Mkweza, who owns Gam Fuels Limited, in a case involving the controversial sale and purchase of his (Mkweza’s) Kanengo Gam Fuels Filling Station.

He argues the orders in the matter will still affect Realsim since it made the payment to purchase the filling station.

In the same ruling, Kapaswiche has denied an application by Gam Oil Limited to remove Realsim as an interested party in the case.

“What comes out clear in my view is that the position that a party cannot join a case at an enforcement stage is not an inflexible rule as the court has to consider the particular circumstances of each case to make a determination.

“This is why the court will proceed to add the interested parties and hear their application accordingly”, says Kapaswiche.

Gangata is claiming K747 million for allegedly losing business after Mkweza confiscated his drilling compressor keys to push for payment of K1.5 million Kwacha debt. Members of Parliament (MPs) yesterday demanded that the House should summon for questioning the Judge whose judgement led to the  sale of a filling station in Lilongwe.

MPs discussed the matter after a motion on the sale of the filling station was tabled in Parliament

Member for Rumphi East Kamlepo Kalua was mover of the motion which read: “That following the snatching and the consequent sale of Gam Fuels Kanengo Filling Station and the manner in which the Filling Station has been disposed off by the Commercial Court, this House resolves that the Legal Affairs Committee shoud investigate how the Filling Station was disposed off by the Commercial Court and whether that action was the most appropriate one and report to this House as soon as possible’’.

Kamlepo argued that the Judge, Ken Manda, should appear before Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to respond to questions regarding his judgement.

He added that another Malawian businessperson also lost a filling station following a judgement by the same Judge.

Other MPs suggested that Parliament should institute impeachment proceedings against the Judge.

Mangochi South West MP Shadric Namalomba said Parliament has powers even to impeach the Judge.

He argued that the Judiciary is losing the trust of Malawians.

“For the first time we have seen Malawians demonstrating against Judges, this has never happened,” said Namalomba.

However, Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda argued that Parliament is overstepping its mandate, saying even though the House has powers to impeach a Judge, the power to inquire into Judge’s conduct rests with the Judicial Service Commission.

Chimwendo called on MPs to stand above emotions and respect the Constitution.

“Standing Orders are not above the Constitution. The Constitution is above any document and there is separation of powers,” said Chimwendo.

Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo also argued that the matter should be sent to the Judicial Service Commission.

Parliament later adopted the motion assigning the Legal Affairs Committee to engage Judicial Service Commission on the controversial sale of the filling.