Maravi

Kwachamania loses claim against govt

Kwachamania loses claim against govt
By Joan Chirwa
Tuesday October 14, 2008 [04:00]
THE International Court of Arbitration has dismissed a claim made against Zambia by former operators of Kwachamania who sought damages for US $144 million (about K568.8 billion), including interest.

Agrima Ltd, owned by Daniel Israel, sued Zambia for failing to grant it exclusivity in relation to lottery activities in the country after an agreement through a contract signed in March, 1999.

The arbitration commenced over five years ago, resulting in the dismissal of Agrima's case last Friday following several hearings in London.

It was widely believed that the collapse of Kwachamania was caused by Agrima's failure to understand the size of its market and wiring into the Kwachamania tickets a prize structure which required the sale of nearly 500,000 tickets every two or three days, in order that the top prize ticket was won.

Without such sales and with no intermediate prize structure wired into the ticket, people saw the winning experience as an illusion.

Zambia was represented in the proceedings by an Anglo-Zambian legal team led by Attorney General Mumba Malila and UK counsel Michael Sullivan QC, Hannah Brown and UK solicitors, DLA Piper.

Labels: COURTS, KWACHAMANIA

posted by MrK @ 8:11 AM