Tue, 16 Jan 2018 10:14:45 +0000
By CHINTU MALAMBO
THE Kabwe Municipal council has asked the Kabwe High Court to strike out a matter in which 27 Kabwe residents are demanding an order restraining the council from constructing a bus station on land alleged to be theirs.
Former Luangwa ward councillor, Bernard Chisanga and 26 others have dragged Kabwe Municipal council to court demanding a restraining order that the plots it intended to turn into a transit bus stop belong to them.
The applicants also demanded damages for unlawful occupation and development of their plots at Tushane Complex opposite the new shopping mall along the Great North Road.
They were also seeking an order of interim injunction restraining the council from clearing, developing, leasing, advertising or selling the plots until final determination of the matter.
They claimed that the council had been arrogant and threatened to continue with the construction of a bus station on their commercial plots without compensation.
In a statement of claim filed in the Lusaka High Court, the applicants indicated that in 2014, the Council advertised commercial plots to which they responded and were successful applicants.
But the Council through its legal counsel Lovemore Banda, claimed that there was a similar matter with the same facts and claims before the Kabwe High Court under cause no 2017/HB/078.
Mr Banda said the action by the complainants to commence fresh proceedings with similar facts and claims in the High Court while there was still an active case in the Kabwe High Court was an abuse of court process.
“The action by the plaintiffs to commence fresh proceedings before the Lusaka High Court under cause no.2017/HP/1661 of similar facts and claims whilst there is another pending matter of similar facts and claims before the Kabwe High Court is abuse of court process,” Mr Banda indicated.
Mr Banda said having similar matters in two courts with different jurisdiction was going to increase the likelihood of the two courts rendering conflicting decisions thus bringing the courts of law into dispute.
He further asked the court to exercise its discretional authority to struck it out on a point of law.
