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Commercial Registry - 2025

9 judgments
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9 judgments
September 2025
Morgan Naik v Amadeus International Limited and Anor (2024/HPC/0426) [2025] ZMHC 64 (1 September 2025)
Plaintiff's 13 October letter introduced new terms and amounted to a counter‑offer; no binding settlement existed, claim dismissed.
  • Contract formation — offer and acceptance; conditional acceptance as counter‑offer; requirement of mirror‑image acceptance; consideration and consensus ad idem; status of without‑prejudice (salvo jure) settlement negotiations.
1 September 2025
August 2025
Module Metrix Zambia Limited v Zambia Legacy Missions International and 3 Ors (2018/HPC/0194) [2025] ZMHC 63 (6 August 2025)
Joinder application dismissed as res judicata, abuse of process and functus officio; applicant lacked sufficient interest.
  • Joinder — Order 14 r.5 High Court Rules — Whether person entitled to or likely to be affected should be joined; Res judicata — same cause of action, same parties, prior opportunity; Abuse of process/forum shopping — piecemeal litigation prohibited; Functus officio — court divested of jurisdiction on previously adjudicated issue; Privity of contract — subcontractor’s interest in principal contract.
6 August 2025
July 2025
Precious Chisebuka and 2 Ors v Kaleya Smallholders Company Ltd and 4 Ors (2024/HPC/0855) [2025] ZMHC 53 (23 July 2025)
Application for leave to bring a derivative action dismissed for wrong mode of commencement and failure to show prima facie company interest.
  • Companies Act s331 — derivative actions — leave to commence — procedural mode: originating summons under High Court Rules Order 6 Rule 1(3) where matter fit for chambers; notice under s331(5) requires service only
  • Corporate Insolvency Act s66 — liquidation vs possession by central bank; requirement to show prima facie company interest and wrongdoing
23 July 2025
May 2025
ZAL ELEVATORS LIMITED V KAYONGO KAYONGO (2022/HPC/068 7) [2025] ZMHC 66 (29 May 2025)
Whether a police-signed payment agreement is void for duress and the company's liability for employee loans and withheld pensions.
  • Contract — Duress: payment agreement signed under police detention voidable; Corporate law — ostensible authority/agency by estoppel: managing director's conduct bound company; Employment/pension: employer must remit deducted pension contributions; Evidence: burden to prove claimed sums; Remedies: refund, interest at commercial rate, costs; Special damages require particularisation.
29 May 2025
Atlas Mara Financial Services Limited and Anor v DBF Capital Partners Limited and Anor (2024/HPC/ARB/0680) [2025] ZMHC 29 (19 May 2025)
Application to set aside arbitral interim and joinder orders dismissed for want of jurisdiction and as abuse of court process.
  • Arbitration — Interim/interlocutory orders — Scope of 'award' — Jurisdiction to set aside — Complementary role of courts — Abuse of court process — Joinder — Article 16 (jurisdictional challenges) vs Section 17 (set aside).
19 May 2025
April 2025
Hopkins Global Solutions Zambia Limited v Macro Mining Africa Limited (2024/HPC/0634) [2025] ZMHC 209 (16 April 2025)
Plaintiff’s claim dismissed for want of prosecution; defendant largely succeeds on counterclaim for rent arrears, unpaid utilities, trespass and possession.
  • Commercial lease — rent arrears — deemed admissions under Order 53 Rule 6 — evidence and want of prosecution — recovery of unpaid utilities — failure to prove account‑change charge — generator charges and recoverable fuel costs — trespass and damages — possession.
16 April 2025
March 2025
Lydia Lukiya Nabeza v Naomie Chambeshi Muteteka (2025/HPC/0102) [2025] ZMHC 40 (28 March 2025)
Unlicensed lender can enforce a valid loan agreement; equitable mortgage permits foreclosure, not sale, with specified interest regime.
  • Money Lenders Act — unlicensed lending — effect on contracts (criminal sanction does not automatically void contract) — enforceability of contractual interest — equitable mortgage — foreclosure not sale — post‑judgment interest (average short‑term deposit rate to judgment; Bank of Zambia lending rate thereafter).
28 March 2025
Sikale Wood Manufacturer Limited v Access Bank Zambia Limited (HPC/0641) [2025] ZMHC 207 (24 March 2025)
A bank that fails to close accounts on a customer's written instruction must remit balances and cannot keep dormancy charges caused by its lapse.
  • Banker–customer relationship; account closure procedure; application of Bankers Association of Zambia Code; corrected written instructions; dormancy versus closure; unjust enrichment and liability for dormant‑period charges; interest on judgment; costs.
24 March 2025
Yapi Merkezi Insaat Ve Sanayi A.S. and Anor v Zambia Railways Limited and Anor (2024/HPC/0230) [2025] ZMHC 13 (14 March 2025)
IPCs issued without the contractually appointed engineer are invalid; parties must appoint an engineer, assess works, reconcile accounts, and bear their own costs.
  • Contract law — EPC contract — requirement for independent engineer to certify works and issue IPCs; interim payment certificates without appointed engineer invalid; privity of contract — separate USD3.6m contract not binding non-parties; remedies — post-judgment appointment of engineer, valuation and reconciliation; costs — each party to bear own costs.
14 March 2025