National Bus Company faces liquidation
The commercial division of the High Court of Malawi has received a petition from Total Malawi to wind up National Bus Company Limited over a K20 million debt the bus company owes Total Malawi Limited.
National Bus Company is a subsidiary of Mulli Brothers Company Limited.
The petition has been served by Total’s legal representative Salimu and Associates, who have since asked the court to liquidate the company for failing to service a debt it incurred after procuring fuel products.
In the commercial case number two of 2017, National Bus Company faces penalty for failing to honour the consent order the two parties agreed during the 2016 court mediation process, which National Bus Company promised to be paying monthly installments of K2 million to service the debt of K42.6 million.
The petition asks the court to wind up the bus company to recover the money from the company’s assets.
“Winding up of the company is sought on the basis that it is failing to pay off a debt to Total Malawi Limited which it incurred after procuring fuel products from the petitioner on credit. A consent order in commercial cause number 63 of 2014 executed by the parties on 10th November, 2016 by which the respondent [National Bus Company] commits to pay the sum of MK42, 627, 610.85 by MK2, 000,000.00 monthly installments has been breached so much so that the respondent now [has] arrears of MK20, 000,000.00.
“It is only just and reasonable in the circumstances that the company be wound up so that the Petitioner as creditor ranking in pari passu with others can access the residue of the estate of the Respondent without further hard to their finances,” reads the petition in part.
In the notice issued by the High Court, National Bus Company has been given up to November 22 to respond to the petition before the court makes its determination. According to the petition, National Bus Company’s nominal share capital is not known.
The company was once among the biggest bus companies in Malawi after the closure of Shire Bus Lines which had dominated the passenger carrier business in Malawi for decades.
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