March 29, 2021
By: Audrey. R. John
The Judge Adrian Fisher has ruled that 2nd Defendant (ORANGE) should pay Le 80 million, 1st Defendant (AFRICEL) Le 20 million as damages to the plaintiff, Native Consortium and others should pay 2 Million as cost to the 4th Defendant (NATCOM).
The Native Consortium & others filed for the court to give an interim order for the tariff on voice to be reverted from Le 650 to Le 410.
Justice Adrian Fisher in his ruling said that due to the balance of convenience and the impact this will have on the companies and government relating to revenue, he did not grant the order sought by the plaintiffs. He however levied cost in place of the injunction.
According to him, since 250 of the plaintiffs are Orange subscribers, Orange should pay Le80 million. Fifty of the plaintiffs were AFRICEL subscribers therefore; AFRICEL should pay a cost of Le20 million in accordance with Order 57 Rule 1, Sub Rule 1, and Order 57 Rule 2 and Sub Rule 5 of the High court Rules 2007.
Therefore, ORANGE & AFRICEL will pay a total of Le100 Million to the 300 plaintiffs.
Some legal pundits within the court opined that the ruling was a drop in the ocean comparing the 72 hours free calls for all subscribers and $ 750,000 and $ 450,000 levied by NATCOM on ORANGE & AFRICEL respectively. When asked, the lead litigant behind the case Mr. Edmond Abu about his opinion said: “the ruling is shocking but it has emboldened our resolve.”