Vodacom suffers blow in 40bn/- legal dispute

 
THE High Court’s Commercial Division has dismissed the objections raised by Vodacom Group Limited and its three subsidiary companies against the share attachment suit lodged by local businessman Moto Mabanga related to execution of foreign judgment on 40bn/- payments.

Judge Haruna Songoro ruled that the grounds of objections presented by Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Tanzania PLC, Vodacom International Limited and Vodacom Congo DRC SPRL, challenging the jurisdiction of the Tanzanian court to entertain the suit, lacked merits.

Other grounds raised by the Vodacom companies, through the services of Advocate Fatma Karume, include the locus stand by the businessman to file the suit in question and that the suit does not disclose any cause of action against Vodacom Tanzania PLC.

In his ruling delivered recently, Judge Songoro said that as per the High Court (Commercial Division) Procedure Rules and having gone through the plaint, the court has jurisdiction to hear and determine a case, which has commercial significance and notwithstanding the merit and demerit of the suit.

“Since the sum which is being litigated (in the) plaintiff’s commercial case exceeds 70m/- and the issues involved are of commercial significance, it follows therefore that this court has jurisdiction to determine the filed suit,” the judge said in his ruling dated February 26, 2018.

He pointed out that the defendants’ legal arguments that the parties involved in the suit did not participate in proceedings resulting in the foreign judgment were matters which may be investigated during hearing of the suit and strictly are not pure points of law, as they require facts and evidence

. As to the objection related to non- disclosure a cause of action against Vodacom Tanzania PLC, Judge Songoro noted that the defendant had been mentioned in the plaint of the suit as necessary party for the purpose of identifying assets of other Vodacom defendants.

“Also, the second defendant company (Vodacom Tanzania PLC) is a subsidiary company of the first defendant (Vodacom Group Limited). In my view, it seem paragraph two of the plaint sufficiently establishes a cause of action against the second defendant as necessary party,” he ruled.

The judge ruled that after going through the plaint, he found that the businessman, as the second plaintiff, had interests in previous contracts and proceedings of the first plaintiff, Namemco Energy PTY Limited and thus had interests in the case. The local businessman, who is represented by Advocate Gabriel Mnyele, says the foreign judgment was given by Kinshasa Commercial Court on January 24, 2012 and confirmed an appeal on September 27, 2013

. He seeks to realize 20,080,000 US dollars by selling 1,092,000,130 shares in Vodacom Companies. In the suit, Mr Mabanga is also requesting for judgment and decree for the court to open the veils of incorporation of Vodacom Group Limited and Vodacom Congo DRC SPRL and that the court should find that the two companies are practically one and the same

. He alleges that he has a very strong arguable case in that Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom International Limited and Vodacom Congo DRC SPRL are subsidiaries of Vodacom Group Limited that trades through them and owns the majority of shares in them and controls them.

The businessman states that the three Vodacom companies are agents of Vodacom Group Limited and as their principal it is directly liable and responsible for all liabilities the trio would suffer.

He states that in view of deliberate and oppressive conduct of defendants and attempts to deny his fruits of the decree, it was proper for the Tanzanian Court to finally hold Vodacom Group Limited accountable, through the shares held in a veil, in Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Com

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