Mtuwisa v Press Agriculture Ltd (Misc. Matter 142 of 2001) [2002] MWIRC 38 (30 September 2002);
MATTER NO. 142 OF 2001
GANIZANI B. MTUWISA………………………………..APPLICANT
HON. M.C.C. MKANDAWIRE, CHAIRMAN
Applicant – Present
Respondent – Absent
George Chapalapata – Official
Interpreter
the respondent is that of withholding their money. The respondent did not turn up for hearing in spite of a notice of hearing having
been forwarded to them. There were no reasons given for such a failure. The Court therefore ordered that the matter should go ahead
for hearing.
farm inputs and food to them with an arrangement that when the tobacco is sold, they would recover the money from the tobacco sales.
The two applicants explained that the system the respondent’s servants operate in the estates is extremely oppressive. The
tenants are supplied with both farm inputs and food without any documentation. Later on the clerks at the estate take advantage of
this weakness by selling the other farm inputs and food to the surrounding areas yet when it comes to re-payments by the tenants,
the clerks saddle the tenants with extra amounts of money from the inputs and food which they have personally sold. This system became
so rampant that the tenants reacted by reporting to the authorities. Unfortunately, the authorities did not help at all. But the
authorities sent private investigators who confirmed from the neighbourhood that this was indeed happening. The first applicant said
that he was the spokesperson for his colleagues.
Instead of receiving K20,000 and K15,000 each respectively, the respondent’s cashier at the farm said that almost all their
tobacco sales had been exhausted because they had to offset the advance given. The second applicant told the Court that the clerk
tricked him by making him thumb print first then said that his money was only K1,869. It is his evidence that he vehemently protested
and kicked the doors at the office. He even refused to receive the cash since this was unbelievable.
of Motion. Their first ground was that Mr. Anderson was already paid and he thumb-printed. As for Mr. Mtuwisa, the respondent said
that they did not have anyone by those names.
at the estate and he was actually the spokesperson. What the respondents were saying was thus a joke.
all in this country are not capable of appreciating the art of literacy. A good example is that of Mr. Anderson who was literally
made to thumbprint. It is thus clear that these are vulnerable groups, which can easily be tricked by some clever employers. The
two applicants lamented that although management had sent in their private investigators to confirm the concerns which the tenants
had, no positive steps were taken in order to remedy the situation. Thus this Court believed the applicants when they stated that
they were saddled with loan advances which had inflated figures. As a result of this situation, the applicants found that they were
in a deficit.
find that the respondent is still withholding K20,000 for Mr. Mtuwisa and K15,000 for Mr. Anderson. I order that this money should
be paid immediately.