By Kusekwa Kusekwa
The High Court in Arusha has granted leave to 470 former employees of Tanzanite One Mining Limited – later renamed Sky Group Associates Limited – to pursue enforcement of their lawfully awarded termination benefits amounting to more than Sh 2.5 billion. This follows the government’s suspension of Mining Licence No. ML. 490/2013 and subsequent placement of the mine under military control.
Justice Dafina Ndumbaro ruled in favour of the applicants, represented by four of their colleagues, against the Ministry of Minerals and the Attorney General (AG). The court granted their application for leave to seek judicial review of the government’s decision.
“That being said, the application is hereby granted. The applicants are given leave to apply for judicial review to challenge the validity of the respondents’ decisions within 14 days,” the judge declared in her ruling delivered recently.
The court noted that the applicants had demonstrated both sufficient interest and an arguable case. It was satisfied that their rights and interests had been substantially affected by the administrative actions of the respondents. It emerged that the applicants had been employees of Sky Group Associates Limited, which was operating under a joint venture with the Ministry of Minerals.
One of the grounds for judicial review concerned the legality of placing Mining Block C in Mirerani, Simanjiro – together with the properties of their employer – under military control. This move, they argued, made it impossible to execute the award in Labour Dispute No. CMA/ARS/MISC.APP/14/20 c/f CMA/ARS/ARB/112/2018.
According to the applicants, the suspension of the licence and the military takeover left them unable to enforce a valid labour award issued in their favour, effectively denying them a remedy for their termination.
