By Draxon Maloya
Former Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service, Lot Dzonzi, is advising sports governing bodies to familiarize themselves with contract law to avoid costly pay-outs to underperforming personnel.
Recently, numerous sports personalities have successfully sued for unfair dismissal, receiving substantial damages.
In December 2023 the Court ordered the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to pay the former Flames head coach, Meck Mwase about K500 million for unlawful termination of the contract.
Dzonzi emphasizes that associations often engage coaches and technical staff under employment contracts, but terminate them prematurely without following proper procedures.
This lack of adherence to contract law leads to costly lawsuits. “Employment contracts have exit clauses allowing termination, but procedures must be followed,” stresses Dzonzi.
To avoid financial repercussions, Dzonzi challenged associations to: Understand Contract Law, familiarize themselves with employment contract regulations to avoid costly mistakes.
The former police chief further highlighted the need to properly follow termination procedures, adherence to stipulated severance payments and notice periods and avoid emotional decisions, and always base termination decisions on contract terms.
Commenting on Dzonzi’s Facebook page, Veteran sports reporter Steve Liwewe Banda questions why associations, despite having legal experts, fail to heed such advice and best administration practices.
“There are straightforward issues that can be resolved before legal action,” Liwewe notes.
Malawi’s Employment Act regulates contract termination, specifying notice periods and severance pay. Associations and other entities needs to grasp these laws to protect themselves from financial losses.
Other recent typical examples of cases highlighting the importance of ‘Contract Law’ include that of the former President Lazarus Chakwera’s spokesperson, Brian Banda, was awarded K103,316,418 for unfair dismissal and the infamous legal suit in which Malawi Broadcasting Corporation was ordered to pay K5.1 million to the late Geoffrey Kapusa for unfair dismissal.
