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TWO former directors at Zesco Limited have sued the power utility in the Lusaka High Court for refusing to sell them the personal-to-holder vehicles they were entitled to as per contract.
Christopher Mubemba, a former director for transmission development, and Kenneth Muteto, who was the director of distribution and supply, are seeking an order from court, which would compel Zesco to sell them two Toyota Prados registration numbers ALJ 2292 and ALJ 2289 respectively.
The plaintiffs claimed that they were employed by Zesco for three years from 2011 and that they were entitled to personal-to-holder vehicles for the duration of their contracts.
They stated that upon commencement of the contracts, the company did not purchase the personal-to-holder vehicles for them until at the end of the year.
“It was also of a term of the contract that we were entitled to purchase the vehicles once we served a minimum of three years. We wrote to Zesco upon expiry of the three years indicating our interest to purchase the said vehicles,” they added.
The plaintiffs stated further that the company responded to one of them (Muteto) in writing, approving his interest to purchase the vehicle and even proceeded to value and offered a price, but that without a reasonable justification, the company later refused to sell the vehicles to both, claiming that they had not had them for three years.
However, according to the plaintiffs, Zesco cannot refuse to sell the vehicles based on a technicality and default created by themselves.
“We were discriminated against as other colleagues such as the previous director of human resource and administration, who worked under the same conditions and in similar circumstances, was allowed to purchase the vehicle he was using. Hence, in line with the contract and policy, a precedent had been set by Zesco,” they stated.
The plaintiffs also want the court to restrain Zesco from repossessing the said vehicles, pending determination of the matter.
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