Clement Maibwe v Wonderful Industry (Z) Company Ltd (Appeal No. 115/2024) [2023] ZMCA 442 (10 December 2023)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF ZAMBIA HOLDEN AT LUSAKA (Civil Jurisdiction) AppealNo.115/2024 BETWEEN: / r- CLEMENT MAIBWE 1 0 DEC 2025 APPELLANT AND WONDERFUL INDUSTRY (Z) COMPANY LTD RESPONDENT CORAM: Kondolo, SC, Majula and Muzenga, llA On: 24th April 2025 and 10th December 2025 For the Appellant: For the Respondent: Mr. C. Chungu, Messrs Nsapato and Co. Advocates In person JUDGMENT Muzenga, JA, delivered the Judgment of the Court. Case referred to: 1. Marcus Achiume v Attorney General (1983) ZR 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This appeal is against the ruling of the Registrar, K. Maimbolwa Walubita on the appellant's application for the court to review its J2 judgment on assessment out of time. The learned Registrar determined that the assessed interest amount was K27 .56. 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 The brief background to this matter is that the appellant was employed by the respondent on 9th April 2012, as a Security Guard. The appellant did not report for work on 5th May 2020, as he always got a day off on Tuesdays. When he reported for work, the respondent cancelled his name from the register and told him to never go back for work. The respondent called the appellant to ask the appellant to sign a resignation letter but he refused contending that he was dismissed and did not resign. The appellant made follow ups over his dues but the respondent failed and neglected to pay him what was due to him. He thus commenced an action against the respondent in the High Court - Industrial Relations Division seeking an order for damages for unfair/wrongful dismissal; payment of gratuity and leave days; and any other reliefs the court deems fit. 2.2 The respondent filed an answer on 24th January 2022 alleging that the appellant was not entitled to the reliefs sought as he had been transferred to a subsidiary of the respondent company and instead J3 deserted the same without valid reasons, prompting the respondent to relieve him of his duties. 2.3 The learned trial judge, W. S. Mwenda heard the matter and determined that the appellant's claim for unfair/wrongful dismissal had failed but upheld the claim for payment of gratuity and leave days. The learned judge entered judgment for the appellant as follows: i) Gratuity at the rate of 25% of the complainant's basic pay for 4 months {25% x 8000.00 = K2000.00); ii) Leave pay using the formula in the 5th schedule to the Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019 {FP x D) 26 days - where FP = Full pay and D = Number of accrued days {2000.00 x 8 divided by 26 = K615.38); iii) The judgment sum shall attract interest at short term bank deposit rate from the date of filing the Notice of Complaint to the date of payment of K2,246.00 into court by the respondent. Thereafter, interest on the balance of K369.38 shall be at lending bank rate as determined by the Bank of Zambia until payment; iv) Leave is granted to the respondent to withdraw the money paid into court on 2nd February 2022, for payment to the complainant. J4 2.4 When the matter went to the Registrar for assessment, she found that the interest on the sum of K2,615.38 (gratuity and leave pay) was K194.19 and further that the interest on the principal balance of K369.38 was K69.56. The Registrar found that the total quantum payable as at December 2022, was K2,879.13. 2.5 On 5th February 2024, the Registrar delivered a ruling on the appellant's application to review the ruling of the court out of time. The gist of the appellant's application was that the court granted him the sum of K263.75 on 11th January 2023, however there was an omission of a table of interest accrued from date of complaint to date of payment which should have been considered. The respondent opposed the application on the basis that one year had lapsed and was too long to review the court's decision especially that the table they wished to be considered was not available at the time of assessment. 2.6 The Registrar took the view that the appellant could not be deprived of the interest due to him. She thus proceeded to review her decision on assessment stating that the appellant was still entitled to interest from January 2023 to April, 2023 when payment was made. That the principal amount and interest was totalling K438.94 JS which attracted interest at 25 .11 % for 3 months. She found that the assessed interest amount was K27.56. 3.0 GROUNDS OF APPEAL 3.1 Dissatisfied with the assessment by the learned Registrar, the appellant has appealed advancing two grounds of appeal as follows: 1) The Honourable Registrar erred by not considering the interest rate accrued for the payment of K2,240.00 of which the accrued balance of K369.38 was thereon omitted by the court. 2) The court further misdirected itself by not considering the ruling of the Deputy Registrar Hon Katrina Maimbolwa Walubita dated 5th February, 2024 which gives a period of 3 months the amount of K27 .56 interest rate from 11th June 2020 to 24th April. 4.0 APPELLANT'S ARGUMENTS 4.1 The appellant argued grounds one and two of his appeal together. It was submitted that the Registrar omitted the guidance of the judgment of Lady Justice Dr. W. Mwenda which clearly stated at J35 that the judgment sum shall attract interest at short term bank deposit rate from the date of filing the notice of complaint to the date of payment of K2,246.00 into court by the respondent. Thereafter interest on the balance of K369.38 shall be at the lending bank rate as determined by the Bank of Zambia until payment. He J6 argued that the respondent made payment on 5th February 2024, the Registrar should have tabulated at the period of 3 months instead of 35 months. 4.2 Ground three of the appeal was abandoned. 5.0 RESPONDENT'S ARGUMENTS 5.1 In response, learned counsel for the respondent argued that the court below was on firm ground in its ruling as the interest sums presented in the schedule are too high. It was argued that the learned trial judge did not order any interest on K2,246.00 as the judgment sum and even if the interest was applied, no interest can be said to have accrued on the judgment sum when it was paid into court on time by the respondent. 5.2 Counsel contended that the appeal should be dismissed for lack of merit. 6.0 HEARING 6.1 At the hearing of the appeal, the parties informed us they would rely on the documents filed. 7 . O DECISION OF THE COURT 7.1 We have carefully considered the record of appeal, the arguments by the parties and the authorities cited . We must state on the onset that the appeal lacks clarity. This could be attributed to the J7 appellant being a lay person. However, what we have been able to decipher from the appellant's one paged arguments is that he takes issue with the period used by the learned Registrar in computing the interest due to him. 7.2 The portion of the judgment of the lower Court awarding the appellant interest on the balance of the judgment sum at page J35 to J36 is in the following terms: "(iii) The judgment sum shall attract interest at short term bank deposit rate from the date of filing the Notice of Complaint to the date of payment of K2,246.00 into court by the respondent. Thereafter, interest on the balance of K369.38 shall be at lending bank rate as determined by the Bank of Zambia until payment;" (emphasis ours) 7.3 The aforementioned judgment was delivered on the 6th May 2022. The appellant in his arguments, after referring to the judgment of the lower Court, argued that: "Thereafter interest on the balance of K369.38 shall be at the lending bank rate as determined by Bank of Zambia until payment. If we are to look at the time is 5th the respondent made the payment which February 2023, the Honourable should have tabulated at the period of 3 months instead of 35 months." ( emphasis ours) J8 7.4 The relevant portion of the learned Registrar's judgment on assessment at page JA3 to JA4 was as follows: "(ii) 2nd interest on the principal balance of K369.38 at the Bank of Zambia lending rate as at December 2022. The principal balance on the date when judgment was delivered was K369.38 and the Bank of Zambia lending rate as at the date of delivery of judgment as well as at now is at 25.110%. Therefore, the interest on the principal balance sum of K369.38 at the Bank of Zambia lending rate as at December is; Interest = Principal x Time x rate of interest Interest = K369.38 x 2._x 25.110 12 100 Interest = K69.56." 7.5 After reviewing her foregoing judgment on assessment, the learned Registrar found that in the initial assessment, a 3 months period was not included. She then proceeded to state as follows at page 3 of the Ruling: "My judgment on assessment had already granted the complainant interest up to December 2022. However he is still entitled to interest from January to April 2023 when payment was made. This gives a period of 3 months. As at 1st January 2023 principal and interest was K369.38 + K69.56. This amount of K438.94 now attracts interest at 25.11% for 3 months. K438.94 x 25.11 x 3/12 = K27.56 J9 The assessed interest amount is K27.56." 7.6 We are unable to understand the grievance which the appellant has with this assessment. This is because in his arguments, he says the Registrar should have used the period of 3 months in calculating the interest. That is exactly the period the Registrar used in calculating the interest as shown above. What then is the grievance? In any case, the appellant has not in any way demonstrated or presented any reasons or grounds warranting us to interfere with the finding of the Registrar on the duration. 7.7 The principle in Marcus Achiume v. Attorney General1 that an appellate court will not reverse findings of fact made by a trial judge unless it is satisfied that the findings in question were either perverse or made in the absence of any relevant evidence or upon a misapprehension of the facts or that they were findings which, on a proper view of the evidence, no trial court acting correctly can reasonably make, stands true. 7.8 In the ruling of 5th February 2024, the learned Registrar assessed what was due to the appellant having been informed that the amount of K369.38 had been paid. The learned Registrar was of the view that since interest had already been granted to the J10 appellant up to December 2022, he was entitled to interest from January 2023 to April 2023 when payment was made, giving a period of 3 months. 7.9 It is clear therefore that the learned Registrar rightly assessed the interest due on the K438.94 and we find no reason to interfere with the finding. Consequently, we find no merit in the appeal. 8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 Having found no merit in the appeal, we dismiss it. Each party will bear its own costs. -c::::::::::::: M. M. Kondolo, SC COURT OF APPEAL JUDGE B. . Majula COURT OF APPEAL JUDGE K. Muzenga COURT OF APPEAL JUDGE