Lilongwe High Court Assistant Registrar Anthony Kapaswiche has reserved his ruling to Monday, 5th July 2021 on the matter involving Lilongwe Area 18 residents thought to have used contaminated water.

This follows disagreements in a number of claimants on the number of people that are to be compensated.

The defense lawyers representing Lilongwe City Council (LCC) and Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) argued that the initial number was about 288 and not the over 1300 appearing on the list.

However one of the defense lawyers Gift Katundu explained that the 288 was a total number of families affected while 1300 is the number of individuals affected.

“The defense team overlooked the list which was submitted a titled list of affected families. Families are not individuals”, argued Katundu.

In 2017 some Area 18 residents consumed water mixed with human excreta through water taps and the court ruled that they be compensated.