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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
The High Court has rejected an $871 000 claim for damages by agro-processing company Cairns Foods Limited former employee who was fired 25 years ago in an unfair labour practice.

Mr Stanford Selemani had been making efforts to attach the agro-processing company’s assets on the strength of an unsigned writ of execution to recover $2,6 million, he claims was due to him.

However, a scrutiny of court records showed that Mr Selemani was never awarded such a figure nor any figure for all his legal battles with the company. Mr Selemani, who suffered a mental problem in 1987 was then fired in 1992, on charges of absenteeism.

He lost his case after Judge President George Chiweshe recently upheld Cairns Foods special plea and an exception to Mr Selemani’s summons claiming $871 460, plus interest with effect from 1992, when he was sacked.

“The special plea be and is hereby upheld,” ruled Justice Chiweshe dismissing the summons. The claim was far less than the $2,6 million, the man had been claiming was due to him.

Through its lawyers Atherstone and Cook, Cairns challenged the summons on the grounds that Mr Selamani lacked legal standing to bring the action to court because a curator ad litem was appointed on his behalf.

Justice Chiweshe also accepted Cairns Food’s argument that the curator should have represented Selemani since he was an incapacitated party.

The judge also agreed with Cairns Foods lawyers that the question relating to the damages was already determined by a court with competent jurisdiction in April 2009.

Labour Court judge Justice Custom Kachambwa ruled in 2009 that Cairns Foods owed Mr Selamani nothing as the earlier judgment he obtained from the same court before another judge Justice Gladys Mhuri only prescribed reinstatement and did not direct payment.

A perusal of the court records exposed Mr Selemani for deliberately electing to omit Kachambwa ruling thereby bringing confusion in the matter, when he approached the High Court to register Justice Mhuri’s 2008, judgment.

Although Justice Mhuri’s judgment was favourable to him, it had no monetary value and had been superceded by the Kachambwa ruling.

After successfully registering the “wrong” judgment, Mr Selemani went on to quantify the damages to his claim and came up with $2,6 million. This is despite the fact that he had also filed a summons claiming $871 460.