On Tuesday, the Industrial Relations Court (IRC) deputy chairperson Tamanda Nyimba ordered the financially struggling Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) to immediately pay former employees K12.5 billion as part of a K25 billion initial compensation award.
Nyimba, who set aside the interim order of stay of execution granted to the company on 22nd November 2024, ordered that the 3 282 former employees are now at liberty to enforce payment of the sums payable by having recourse to any means permissible under the law.
The order follows an application by Admarc, through its lawyers Patrice Nkhono and Francisco Chikabvumbwa, to put aside the execution of the earlier order pending an appeal of the judgement which the same court made on November 15 2024.
In that order, Admarc was asked to pay K25 billion compensation comprising K7 billion as compensation for unfair dismissal and K18 billion for unfair labour practices.
However, according to a ruling which we have seen, the lawyers argued that Admarc is currently in an unhealthy financial position and is unable to immediately pay the judgment debt and, in any case, within the period decreed by the Court.
“That presently, as per the respondent’s Director of Finance, the respondent has total funds amounting to MK2 billion which, if operating expenses such as salaries and utilities, as well as forex funds, are factored in, the respondent only has a balance of about MK427 million. All this is further against the respondent’s liability to various creditors in excess of MK2.9 billion
“that the respondent largely depends on Government subvention and that its last funding was received in July 2024. That in view thereof, it is evident that an immediate payment of the judgment sum herein Would seriously jeopardize and paralyze the respondent’s day-to-day operations because such an immediate payment would effectively wipe out all the respondent’s finances that it has at the moment thereby resulting in a total collapse of the respondent institution,” reads part of the ruling
But in her ruling, Nyimba granted Admarc its prayer for a stay on the condition that it immediately pay 50 percent of the compensation assessment awarded.
“In the final analysis and if truth be told, it is clear that it is really the respondent with a malaise of patent impecuniosity. It is tolerably plain that what the respondent is actually attempting to do is to disingenuously mask its financial ruin by desperately alleging that the applicants are the ones without means.
“Be that as it may, having considered the entire circumstances Of this matter alongside the law applicable to this genre of application, I consider that a just balance will be struck in exercising my discretion by granting the respondent a stay of execution as it abides the outcome of the appeal but on the conditions that Admarc pays the applicants 50% of the minimum compensation awarded to the applicants under section 63(5) of the Employment Act for being unfairly dismissed.
“To avoid potential confusion, the amount payable is MK3,500,224,120.84 (three billion five hundred million two hundred twenty-four thousand one hundred twenty kwacha eighty-four tambala) being 50% of the decreed total award of K7,000,448,241.67 (seven billion four hundred forty-eight thousand two hundred forty-one kwacha sixty-seven tambala) minimum compensation under this head.
“The respondent pays the applicants 50% of the compensation awarded to the applicants for unfair labour practice. For the avoidance of doubt, the amount payable is (nine billion twenty-five million five hundred thousand kwacha) being 50% of the decreed total award of(eighteen billion fifty-one million kwacha) compensation respecting this head.
“If, for reasons beyond the control of the parties, the respondent’s appeal is not set down for hearing upon the expiry of six months from the date hereof, the respondent shall further pay the applicants 25% of the remaining amount in paragraph (a) immediately above and 25% of the remaining amount in paragraph (b) immediately above,” reads the ruling in part
