FDD leader Edith Nawakwi has opposed institution of committal proceedings against her by African Life Financial Services limited for alleging that former workers of Anglo American Corporation were not paid their dues before their transition to its organisation in 2000, while the case is pending determination.
Nawakwi said she only disclosed that the ex-Anglo American workers had been transferred to African Life Financial Services and a sum of money had been given to their new employers for their transition but the money was not given to the employees.
According to an order dated May 14, justice Susan Wanjelani granted the applicant Munakupya Hantuba, an executive director at African Life Financial Services, leave to apply for an order of contempt of court against Nawakwi.
This is in a matter where Dickson Mtonga and 22 other security guards sued African Life Financial Service limited in 2014 demanding US$300,000 and terminal benefits owed to them following their transfer.
African Life Financial Services limited asked the court to commit Nawakwi to prison for misrepresenting facts when she alleged that it was liable to pay its former employees US$300,000 when the matter was still active before court
It said Nawakwi’s utterances during a press briefing were calculated at prejudicing the general public against it.
Nawakwi said the former Anglo American security guards were never paid their terminal benefits but they were transferred from Anglo America to African Life with a package of US$3,000 and they have never been paid to date.
African Life Financial Services stated that Nawakwi’s conduct was intended to deliberately misrepresent the facts surrounding the case to impede the administration of justice by creating an impression that it had been liable to settle the claimed sum.
But in an affidavit in opposition to summons for an order of committal for contempt, Nawakwi said she has not been served with the documents as her advocates conducted a search on May 21 and as a result she had not been made aware of the proceedings.
“My advocates found no record of proceedings on the file and as such, I have no idea of what transpired before this court,” Nawakwi said.
She charged that the complaint as framed against her was fatally flawed as it contained no details or particulars from which she could say a prohibited type of excuria discussion was contemplated to take place.
“The excerpt quoted in the statement in support of their application (applicant) is clearly insufficient to support any alleged contempt,” Nawakwi said.
She explained that she did not talk about the actual case in court, neither did she discuss the cause of action to a claim, the defence or let alone the merits or demerits of the case.
“All I have stated is the undisputable facts that the ex-Anglo American workers had been transferred and a sum of money had been transferred with them and they had not been paid,” said Nawakwi
“Since the defendant has framed a complaint that alleged criminal contempt, it is trite law that the particulars of the alleged contempt must be sufficiently detailed in order to sustain a conviction.”