AG joins $40 million Macra case

**By Wezzie Gausi: **

Attorney General (AG) Frank Mbeta has joined a court battle in which the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) is challenging a $40.4 million arbitration award in favour of Lacell Private Limited.

The AG is arguing that the award is excessive, unlawful and unsupported by evidence.

The development has seen the High Court Commercial Division sitting in Blantyre adjourning the matter to November 9, 2026 to allow Mbeta to file supplementary arguments challenging the award.

According to court documents, Mbeta formally joined the matter as an additional legal practitioner for Macra through a notice of appointment dated October 20, 2026.

In skeleton arguments filed before the court, Mbeta is asking the court to set aside the $40,453,857.81 award, arguing that arbitrator Chikondi Khondiwa exceeded his jurisdiction and disregarded the law in determining the dispute.

The AG argues that the arbitrator had no authority to determine allegations of anti-competitive conduct under the Communications Act, as such matters fall within the jurisdiction of the High Court.

“The arbitrator had no jurisdiction to determine allegations of anti-competitive conduct arising under the Communications Act, as such matters are reserved for the High Court under Section 196 of the Act,” the submissions read.

Mbeta further argues that the award was unjustified because Lacell failed to demonstrate that it had made investments or suffered financial losses warranting such compensation.

According to the submissions, Lacell had initially claimed K2 billion in damages, but the arbitrator went on to award over $40 million based on the average profit margins of telecommunications companies Airtel and TNM.

The AG contends that the approach was legally flawed, particularly because Lacell had no audited accounts or evidence of business operations to support the projected loss of profits.

“This is not compensation; it is a windfall,” the court submissions read.

Mbeta has also challenged the decision to award damages in United States dollars, arguing that both parties are locally incorporated companies and that the claims were initially presented in Kwacha.

He maintains that the award contravenes provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act of 2025 and Malawi’s public policy.

The AG further argues that the arbitrator took more than two years to deliver the main award after the conclusion of the hearing, a delay he claims prejudiced Macra.

The dispute arose after Macra sought to recover outstanding licence fees from Lacell, which subsequently filed a counterclaim alleging that the regulator had failed to discharge its statutory obligations under the Communications Act.

The arbitration process resulted in an award, dated February 26, 2025, followed by an ancillary order on the assessment of damages dated July 2, 2026.

Macra is now seeking to have both decisions set aside and the dispute over outstanding licence fees referred to another arbitrator.

The case is being heard before High Court Commercial Division Judge Jabbar Alide, with further proceedings scheduled for November 9, 2026.