Lawyer demands K20m from DPP, BCC
Private practice lawyer Wesley Mwafulirwa has written the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Blantyre City Council (BCC), demanding K20 million incurred in the DPP Blue Night case.
His demand follows High Court Judge Zione Ntaba’s order for the parties to pay the costs following their unsuccessful application to have the Blue Night case dismissed.
Ntaba, sitting in Zomba, dismissed the party’s application to discharge the case in which five civil society organisations (CSOs) demanded the DPP to reimburse about K13.5 million it solicited from parastatal organisations during its fundraising dinner and dance dubbed Blue Night.
The party collected the funds from Blantyre City Council (BCC) and Lilongwe Water Board (LWB), among others. DPP and BCC filed an application in court to have the matter dismissed but LWB did not join.
In the letter, which The Nation has seen, the Mzuzu-based lawyer has proposed the amount which he describes as negotiable being “our party and party costs” to be paid within seven days.
“Kindly be advised that if we do not hear from you within seven days, we will proceed to move the court to tax the costs. Bear in mind that the taxation process itself will attract further party and party costs,” reads the letter dated April 4 2018 which has been sent to the institutions through their respective lawyers with a copy to the Attorney General (AG) chambers.
In an interview, Mwafulirwa said the amount was an estimate of the costs he incurred and the inconvenience the parties caused in representing the CSOs in the matter.
He said the amount, among others, covers travel, research, reading, attending to the proceedings in court, food and accommodation.
BCC lawyer Bruno Matumbi was not readily available for comment yesterday but on his part Chimwemwe Sikwese, who represented DPP, said he had not yet seen the letter but was ready to deal with the matter in court.
He said: “In any event, those issues are dealt with in court. So much as there was an order to that effect but we have not seen his letter and so we will deal with it in court when we get to see the said letter.”
The five CSOs that dragged DPP to court included Centre for the Development of People (Cedep), Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Youth and Society (YAS) and Livingstonia Synod’s Church and Society Programme.
In her ruling, Ntaba declined to dismiss the matter saying the CSOs had sufficient interest in the case and it was within their right to take it to court.
She further directed that the matter be taken for mediation to be conducted by Justice Redson Kapindu within two months failing which the court would continue with submissions on June 16 2018.
