* The countrywide assets were taken over by National Bus Company after it acquired Shire Bus Lines when the government liquidated the company in 2007
* Local councils are now in control of the former Shire Bus Lines properties—Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda
By Duncan Mlanjira
The High Court in Blantyre has dismissed an application by National Bus Company for a judicial review which the company was challenging ownership claims by the government over bus terminals which business mogul’s company was illegally collecting revenue.
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The countrywide bus terminals, that include workshop were taken over by National Bus Company after it acquired Shire Bus Lines when the government liquidated the company in 2007.
The government contended that National Bus Company was illegally collecting fees from the bus depot across the country but Mulli went to the court challenging Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development when it intended to take-over management of the bus depots.
In an interview with the media after the order made on Friday by Judge Mandala Mambulasa, the Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda said local councils are now in control of the former Shire Bus Lines properties.
Chakaka-Nyirenda said it was illegal for Mulli, through his bus company, to be collecting the bus depot fees and claiming ownership when the bus depot belonged to government.
He said although Mulli was collecting the money every day, the bus depot were in dilapidated state.
The state of Lilongwe bus depot
Also in contention over the same assets, is a case in which former Shire Bus Lines staff claim that they hold 15% shareholding in the assets of defunct company — thus demanding a share of the proceeds they haven’t received 15 years down the line.
When they brought the matter to the Public Private Partnership Commission, the Attorney General was brought to attention of this claim and sought guidance on how the 15% shareholding should be handled.
The Commission attested that the report on the liquidation of the company in 2007 “does confirm that the staff had a 15% shareholding in the company” — giving credence that former staff’s assertion that when the company was liquidated and acquired by National Bus Company, they had a 15% shareholding.
When the case was still in court, the Public Private Partnership Commission wrote the Attorney General on June 22, 2022, in which the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Kabambe said: “It is their claim that National Bank Company is making a lot of money from the purported ownership of these bus depots and they feel they have a right to be receiving a proportionate share of these revenues.
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“I am aware that you are already dealing with the matter in which National Bus Company acquired assets of Shire Bus Lines. Nevertheless, I am compelled to bring the complaint raised by the ex-staff and to seek your guidance on how my office should handle the matter.”
Thus Kabambe attests that “the report does confirm that the staff had a 15% shareholding in the company and it is [the Commission’s] view that they do have a right to raise a concern on this matter”.
Last February, the former employees reignited their campaign to press government to get their terminal benefits years after the company was liquidated.
A report by Nation newspaper in February quoted the ex-staff as complaining of the discrepancies their final terminal benefits were calculated.
From Shire Bus Lines to National Bus Company
They had said they were suffering greatly and over 20 of their colleagues had “died as paupers because they could not get proper medication when they fell sick due to poverty”.
They were quoted as saying: “When we were being retrenched, we were told that we could be given enough money as severance pay and on top of that, transport money to enable us to hire cars to take us back to our respective homes.
“To our surprise, we only got K20,000 as transport allowance and that money was not enough to hire a vehicle within Lilongwe,” they said while general secretary for Transport and General Workers Union Ronald Mbewe told the Nation newspaper that they took the matter to court after noting the discrepancies.
“When we saw the discrepancies in the benefits, we decided to take the case to court,” he was quoted as saying.
In 2006, government instructed Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC), then Privatisation Commission, to liquidate all MDC interests before liquidating its assets due to poor performance.
Shire Bus Lines was also liquidated in 2007 after inviting private sector players to partner it with then Malawi National Bus Company.
Business mogul Leston Mulli
Mulli Brothers then bought the company and reconstituted it to National Bus Company in which it manages all bus depots owned by Shire Bus Lines that are across the country.
Every bus by other operators pay a user-fee and those proceeds allegedly go direct to National Bus Company — thus the ex-staff demanding to be compensated since their 15% shareholding is in such assets.
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