Malawi’s ex-MP, guard tussle over gunshot damages

Malawi’s former Member of Parliament Laiton Dzombe is battling with his ex-guard whom the High Court in June last year awarded more than K8 million compensation for loss of a leg after the ex-MP shot him while on duty.

On Thursday, Dzombe, who represented Dowa Ngala Constituency, said he has not yet paid Julius Kashangula the amount because he is challenging the High Court ruling, an action the guard said is not aware of.

According to the High Court ruling, Dzombe shot the guard in 2008 while he was trying to stop dogs from fighting at his Area 10 residence in Lilongwe.

“On 17th December 2008, [Kashangula] was on duty as usual when the defendant’s dogs started fighting. The plaintiff went to the place where the dogs were fighting to stop them. The defendant [Dzombe] came out of the house and enquired what was happening.

“Upon being told that the dogs were fighting, he went into the house and came back with a gun. Standing at a distance of one and a half metres and without a warning, he shot in the direction where the plaintiff and the dogs were.

“In the process, he shot the plaintiff on the right leg,” reads the court ruling in part, adding that Kashangula’s leg was later amputated at the hospital.

The court ruling shows that Dzombe was accused of negligence in his attempt to shoot at the dogs, thereby causing permanent incapacity to Kashangula.

While the injury assessment showed that Kashangula suffered 60 percent incapacity because of the shooting, the High Court put his incapacitation at 100 percent, arguing he had zero percent prospects of getting another job in his guarding trade.

Out of the total K8.022 million compensation awarded to Kashangula, K6 million was for pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement and future nursing care whereas K1 million was for exemplary damages.

In an interview on Tuesday, Kashangula said he was desperate to receive his compensation, saying he is now failing to buy food and pay school fees for his four children because he is not working.

Dzombe refused to comment further as he said the matter is in the Supreme Court of Appeal.