Attorney General Counsel Frank Mbeta has scored yet another hat trick legal goal when yesterday he won a case which he represented the State against TotalEnergies Marketing Limited.
The High Court’s Commercial Division in Lilongwe ruled that Prima Fuels Limited and the Malawi Government are entitled to recover fuel supply refunds owed by TotalEnergies Marketing Limited for a six‑year period, from 10 July 2013 to 11 July 2019, following breach of a fuel supply agreement.
The Malawi Government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and represented by the Attorney General Mbeta, is claiming K824 billion (about US180 million relates to unpaid rebates owed to government, while US$300 million is being claimed by Prima Fuels Limited.
Delivering judgment yesterday, Justice Trouble Kalua held that each unpaid monthly refund within the six‑year window before the case commenced remains recoverable. However, any claims older than six years are statute‑barred.
“Every monthly payment from today going backwards for six years would be within the limitation period. And every monthly payment unpaid going beyond six years backwards would be caught by the statute,” said the judge.
The Court further ruled that although TotalEnergies Marketing Limited’s letter of March 29, 2012, amounted to anticipatory repudiation of the supply agreement, Prima Fuels did not accept it. The agreement, therefore, remained legally valid and enforceable.
TotalEnergies Marketing Limited, the first defendant, is represented by Mordecai Msisha, SC, Patrice Nkhono, SC, and Alfred Majamanda. Prima Fuels Limited is represented by Wapona Kita.
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