Some parents included in the petition against trustees of St. Andrew’s International Primary School have demanded their removal from the court case on the basis that they were roped in without their consent.

In two separate letters dated August 25th and 26th 2022 from Ismail Aniz through Phoya and Associates and Anum Kassam through Ritz Attorneys-at-Law, the parents are demanding an apology from Mwangomba and Associates legal firm, which is representing some of the purported claimants, for including their names in the case.

Trustees lawyers Chalamanda (R) and Fred Chipembere at the court

The concerned parents demand that the apology should be published in the country’s two daily newspapers, The Nation and The Daily Times as well as the weekly papers, Weekend Nation and Malawi News not later than tomorrow.

Reads Phoya and Associates’ letter in part: “Our client is aware of the fact that by their very nature, court proceedings invariably have consequences on the parties concerned and it is his considered view, therefore, that including his name on the list of litigants without his consent or approval, unjustly and unfairly exposes him to such consequences.”

Some parents on Wednesday told The Nation that less than half of the initial 83 claimants still want to be associated with the case because they fear it will jeopardise their children’s education.

During the hearing of an application by the trustees to vacate an injunction which some parents obtained stopping the school’s board of trustees from executing their duties before the High Court in Blantyre on Tuesday, one of the lawyers representing the trustees Noel Chalamanda also wondered why some parents were added in the case without their consent.

But in responding to Chalamanda’s submission, Harry Mwangomba told the court that initially, his clients directed that there were 83 parents which included the two concerned parents.

According to the letter we have seen dated August 30 2022 signed by St Andrew’s International Primary principal Naomi Charles addressed to parents, the school was supposed to be opened today.

The court order has affected the planned opening of the Blantyre-based elite private school set for today.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, who joined the case, told the High Court of Malawi that legally, the international primary school belongs to the Malawi Government.

The concerned parents argue that the school’s trustees were acting illegally as its members did not sign the trust deeds after dissolution of the Designated Schools Board in 1998 that was managing the St Andrew’s alongside other international schools.

Presiding High Court Judge Jack N’riva reserved his ruling on the application to vacate an injunction to a date to be announced later. Founded in 1938 by the Church of Scotland Mission in Blantyre, the school is an accredited provider of the English National Curriculum in Malawi.

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