The High Court yesterday granted an injunction to Salima Sugar Company Limited Executive Chairperson Wester Peter Kosamu, restraining fellow directors of the board from firing him from his position.
The Board of Directors fired Kosamu this week.
High Court Judge Masauko Msungama has restrained the board from effecting the resolution it made on December 16 2023 purporting to remove Kosamu from his position as executive director of the company and from implementing any ensuing decisions flowing from the resolutions.
Kosamu obtained the injunction through lawyer Edgar Kachere of Messrs Whyte and Cross Law Consultants.
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“This order restrains you, whether by yourselves, your servants, agents or whosoever else, as follows: from effecting your resolution made on the 16th day of December 2023 purporting to remove the second claimant from his position as executive director of the first claimant company, and from implementing any ensuing decisions flowing from the resolutions of the said board meeting of the 16th day of December 2023,” the order reads.
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The order has also restricted the board from stopping the chief executive officer from continuing to act as signatories to bank accounts of the company.
The court says if they disobey the order, they may be found guilty of contempt of court and may be sent to prison, fined or have their assets seized.
According to the injunction, it will be contempt of court for any person notified of the order to knowingly assist in, or permit, a breach of the order.
This comes after a forensic audit conducted at the company indicated that some funds were abused.
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Six people representing the board met, according to the Shareholders Agreement between Aum Sugar and Greenbelt Authority in Section 10 (7A), which stipulates that when the board of directors calls for a meeting more than two times and the other party is not willing to attend, the third time they should continue with the meeting and agree on any decisions.
Last week, police in Lilongwe arrested former Salima Sugar Company Limited chairperson Shirieesh Betgiri and are hunting for the company’s former chief executive officer Henri Njoloma and two others in connection with the alleged abuse of K50 billion at the company.
Recently, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda vowed to fight tooth and nail to recover over $30 million (about K51 billion) that is alleged to have been abused at Salima Sugar Company Limited.
In November 2012, the National Assembly passed the Export-Import Bank of India (Loan) (Authorisation) Bill, authorising the Ministry of Finance to borrow $76.5 million from India Exim Bank, out of which $35 million was used for the development of the irrigation network under the Greenbelt Initiative and the setting up of refined processing equipment in Salima under the Greenbelt Initiative.
