Mdala ( A minor suing through his father and litigation guardian Kenneth Mdala) v Prime Insurance Company Limited and Kachepa (Personal Injury 567 of 2018) [2022] MWHC 149 (24 June 2022)

Blessings Mdala v Prime Insurance Company Limited and Another IN THE HIGH COURT OF MALAWI PRINCIPAL REGISTRY Personal Injury 567 OF 2018 CLAIMANT BETWEEN BLESSINGS MDALA (A minor suing through his father and litigation guardian Kenneth Mdala) AND PRIME INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED NYUZI KACHEPA CORAM MATAPA KACHECHE Mataka Absent Mtegha (Mrs) Deputy Registrar for the Claimant for the Defendant Official Interpreter 15ST DEFENDANT 28D DEFENDANT : ORDER ON ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGES I. 2. 3. . 4. 5. on 5% action claimant commenced this The pain and September, 2018 seeking damages for: suffering, loss of amenities of life, deformity or disfigurement. He also claimed special damages being and K10,500.00 cost of medical report. K3,000.00 report, police cost of was after order made mediation An entering judgment in favour of the claimant. The amount of damages payable was to be agreed upon by the parties. If agreement was not reached the damages were to be assessed by the Registrar. Tt seems the parties did not agree and the matter came before me for assessment of damages on 24% February, 2022, The defendants were served but were not present for assessment so we proceeded in the absence of the defendant. The litigation guardian testified on behalf of the claimant. He stated that the claimant was hit by a motor vehicle registration number BQ 3699 Scania Lorry on 24% Blessings Mdala v Prime Insurance Company Limited and Another October, 2017 at about 11:00 hours as he was on his way from school. The accident took place Maone Junction along the Chilembwe high High in Limbe within Blantyre District, 6. 7. 8. a he result sustained the following injuries: As amputation of the lower left leg, 3 open fractures on the right arm, serious cut wounds on the right hip, serious bruises at the back, serious cut wounds on the face and serious cut wounds on the right hand. He was immediately taken to hospital where he was admitted for 26 days. The fractures were treated by the arm being cast in a plaster of Paris (P.0. P). The child now has an amputated left leg. Since the accident the child has been living a stressed and unhappy life and painful life, he can no longer play with friends as he used to before the accident, he is is now by usually starts emotionally unstable as crying in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and sometimes he refuses to eat or sleep. At the time of the accident the claimant was six (6) years old. his he sometimes just stigmatized friends, he 9. I will not bother outline the general law on damages suffice to say that I need to look at conventional right quantum of with the awards to come up damages. 10. The claimant has cited a number of cases namely: a. b. c. Florence Kainga v Malawi Housing Corporation and another (2007) CC no. 1339 where the claimant suffered an amputation of a leg due an accident — she was awarded K9,000,000.00; Steve Nansongole v Unitrans Malawi Limited (2010) CC no. 898 where the claimant sustained a fracture of the right arm and he was awarded 2,000,000.00 For pain and suffering; Van Justin Makwangwala v Henderson in Guilder and others (2015) Persenal Injury no. 213 the claimant was awarded K3,000,000.00 for loss of amenities having lost a leg. Blessings Mdala v Prime Insurance Company Limited and Another 11. The claimant herein is life. a very young child. He has been living with the pain, suffering and deformity since 2017 and will live with the same for the rest of many his inconveniences meaning that even if the physical pain were to reduce or get eliminated altogether, he will live with the emotional trauma for the rest of life, He deserves to be adequately compensated. subject They him will to 12. Having considered all the relevant facts, the age of the child and the comparable awards I make the following awards: a. Damages for pain and suffering —K7,000, 000.00 b. Damages for loss of amenities — K4,000, 000.00 ¢. Damages for deformity and disfigurement — K3, d. ¢. 000, 000.00 Special damages for the cost of police report — K3, 000.00 Special damages for the cost of the medical report —K10, 500.00. 13. The total award therefore comes to K14, 013, 500.00. 14.1 direct that these sums be paid to the office of the Registrar who shall open a trust account for the child. 15. I also award costs of these proceedings. “Delivered this 24%, of J 0) Chimbizgani Matapa Kacheche Deputy Registrar