Editors PickNational News

Bogus claims

 The Judiciary has challenged the Insurance Association of Malawi (IAM) and Tea Association of Malawi to provide proof on allegations of bogus workplace injury claims and ‘judge shopping’ to facilitate enforcement orders.

The Judiciary’s reaction follows consistent claims by Tea Association of Malawi, IAM and some manufacturing firms that some lawyers, on behalf of their clients, were filing bogus claims against them.

In particular, IAM is on record as having faulted the Judiciary for entertaining ‘judge shopping’, an arrangement where lawyers allegedly influence the choice of their preferred judges to hear their cases. The insurers claimed last year that the alleged malpractice cost them K5 billion in 2019 alone.

In a written response to a questionnaire this week, High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Gladys Gondwe confirmed that the Tea Association and IAM formally raised the concerns sometime back.

Ngunde: The law has put in place clear mechanisms

“The concerned parties were asked to provide information on specific cases and justify why they took issues with the said awards [the Judiciary made to injured workers], but they never did so.”

Gondwe, who said the failure to bring the justification has brought the issue back to square one, said the Judiciary has its mandate outlined under the Constitution and that where any party opines that the law has been misapplied, the same law has provided for avenues to remedy the situation.

She said: “We have the Judiciary Institutional Integrity Committee which deals with these issues. The committee has placed complaint boxes at court centres and operates a toll-free line for the purposes of receiving such complaints.

“Of course, like in this scenario, not too many people are willing to bring tangible evidence for successful pursuit of such matters.”

In reaction, Malawi Law Society (MLS) said it is not appropriate for it to take interest in the matter and engage the concerned parties, namely IAM, Tea Association and the manufacturing industry.

In a written response, MLS honorary secretary Crispin Ngunde said: “The law has put in place clear mechanisms for receiving and dealing with complaints by the society. Neither the Tea Association nor the Insurance Association has referred any complaint to the legal framework provided.

“The Law Society acts on complaints received. We would rather deal with complaints in the manner provided by the law. The nature of the lawyers’ work depends on instructions from a client. We would recommend recourse to proper institutions to deal with some of these allegations.”

On the position that Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament would be summoning MLS for

 the same issue of alleged bogus workplace injury claims, he said they would deal with any issues that the committee may raise within relevant legal process.

But reacting to the positions separately stated by the Judiciary and MLS, Tea Association of Malawi president Sangwani Hara said in an interview on Tuesday that they provided the Judiciary with evidence. He said the association is ready to resubmit the evidence.

He said: “We did submit what we could. But we’re working on that again, we’ll soon be engaging the Judiciary on this matter. We’re concerned  that these bogus claims have continued and there are some manufacturing firms in Blantyre that have expressed interest to join us and fight this together.”

Hara said the Workers Compensation Ac t provides for procedures injured workers may use, which include filling a form without necessarily going to courts. He said the laid out procedure is usually ignored as the workers, allegedly coaxed by lawyers, opt for courts instead.

IAM president Bywell Chiwoni, who is also United General Insurance Company Limited managing director, declined to comment on Tuesday, saying his association will wait for a pending workshop being arranged which would unearth real issues going on.

The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament told our sister newspaper Nation on Sunday of October 31 2021 that it would summon MLS over reports that its members continue filing “bogus claims” relating to accidents.

Committee chairperson Peter Dimba said his committee, which is mandated to provide oversight on administration of the law in the country, will follow up with MLS on the matter.

In January this year, IAM told Nation on Sunday that the scheme was complicated, alleging that the syndicate included “ambulance chasers”, people who follow up on accidents, lawyers, medical doctors, some police officers and in some cases employees of some insurance firms.

At the time, Chiwoni said initially the scheme focused on road accident claims, but it later moved to manufacturing industries and lately to tea estates where some agents recorded personal injuries which they send to some lawyers who file the cases in court, mostly without the knowledge and instructions of those injured.

Last year, Ministry of Labour issued a caution against the malpractice, saying it was concerned that the defrauding of employers and insurance companies was continuing.

The ministry had further accused medical personnel and lawyers of their involvement in making unsolicited claims for injuries at the workplace.

In December 2020, the Anti-Corruption Bureau appealed to professional bodies to ensure that their members are discharging their duties ethically to avoid being found on the wrong side of the law

Related Articles

Back to top button