IN THE HIGH COURT
OF MALAWI
PRINCIPAL
REGISTRY
CIVIL
CAUSE NO. 1713 OF 1995
BETWEEN:
KENNEDY CHIMPANZI………………………………………PLAINTIFF
AND
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL………………………………DEFENDANT
Jumbe,
Counsel for the Plaintiff.
This is this court’s order on assessment of damages
herein pursuant to a default judgment entered in favour of the plaintiff herein
for damages for loss of expectation of life, loss of dependency and funeral
expenses.
The notice
of hearing of the assessment of damages was duly served on the defendant’s
Chambers who made no appearance at the hearing. The plaintiff’s evidence is therefore uncontroverted. The evidence herein was taken before the
late Mr Sidira then Deputy Registrar of the High Court.
The
plaintiff’s daughter, Rachel Chimpanzi, aged 20 years at the time of her death
died whilst in the custody and care of Zomba Mental Hospital. She was a form 4 student at Stella Marris
Secondary School. She was a hard
working student with good prospects of securing a job after completion of her
studies. She was also very helpful at
home in that she used to do a lot of household chores helping her dependants,
the plaintiffs herein.
The
plaintiff now sues on his own behalf and on behalf of the deceased’s dependants
for damages for loss of dependency and for loss of expectation of life on
behalf of the estate of the deceased as well as for funeral expenses incurred.
The issue
of the defendant’s liability was settled by the default judgment. The only issue is how much in compensatory
damages is due to the plaintiffs and the deceased’s estate.
This
court notes that the law was settled in the case of Rose v Ford [1937] AC 826 that a claim for loss of
expectation of life is maintainable on behalf of the estate of the
deceased. And with regard to awards for
such loss, they were described as basically conventional. See Cain v. Wilcock[1968]
AllER 817. This is so because loss of
expectation of life is an aspect that can not be quantified in monetary terms
with any known mathematical formula.
Courts, therefore, use the same approach employed in arriving at damages
in personal injuries cases.
This
court had opportunity to look at the case of Chimbula v. Yona t/a
Chokotho Civil cause No.
301 of 2001 in which this court awarded K60,000.00 of damages for loss of
expectation of life by a person who died aged 21 years.
The
relevant factor is that the deceased herein died aged 20 years. The life expectancy in this country was
pegged at around 55 years by the National Statistical office but has since been
revised downwards with the advent of the many health risks including
HIV/Aids. The deceased herein might
possibly have reached her 50’s had it not been for her death herein. She possibly had about 30 years to
live. This court therefore awards the
sum of K100,000.00 as damages for loss of expectation of life in the
circumstances of the instant case.
On the
aspect of loss of dependency on the deceased by the plaintiff the law is that
in arriving at damages recoverable the courts use what can be termed as the
multiplicand and multiplier formula.
See Market v. Mc Monagle (1970) A.C. 166, 175. The
multiplicand is the deceased’s monthly income whilst the multiplier is the
approximated number of years the deceased would have lived if not for the
wrongful death.
To arrive
at the level of dependency, the multiplicand is multiplied by the multiplier
and then the figure of 12 representing the number of months in a year. Whatever the product, there is a reduction
of one third, representing the portion the deceased would have presumably
expended on purely personal needs.
In the
instant case the deceased was not employed.
But that fact shall not deter this court from working out an award for
loss of dependency. The fact remains
that at the age of 20 years the deceased was employable under the laws of this
country as she was an adult. At the
least she would have, upon getting employment, been earning the minimum wage
for domestic workers as stipulated under the Employment Act namely K2,000.00
per month. For the foregoing reasons
this court adopts the sum of K2000.00 as the multiplicand herein. With regard to the multiplier this court has
already noted that the deceased was aged 20 years at the time of her
death. Had it not been for her death
she most probably would have lived into her 50’s. This regard having been had to the statistics on life expectancy
in Malawi that pegs it to around the range of 50 years. The deceased therefore possibly had around
30 more years to live had it not been for her death. That figure of 30 years shall be reduced to cater for
eventualities of life that may have reduced her life expectancy in any event. This court makes a reduction of 10 years and
so adopts the multiplier of 20. So
taking the figure of K2000.00 as the multiplicand and that of 20 as the
multiplier the level of dependency works out as follows; when the formulae laid
out above is used, K2,000 x 12 x 20 x 2/3 which becomes K320,000.00.
The sum of
K320,000.00 is therefore awarded to the plaintiff as damages for loss of
dependency. With regard to the special
damages for funeral expenses, the same have been proved to be K1,750.00 as
claimed. And so K1,750.00 special
damages are awarded to the plaintiff herein.
The total
sum awarded for loss of expectation of life and loss of dependency shall be
equally divided between the plaintiff and the mother of the deceased Mrs
Chimpanzi.
Costs of
this action are for the plaintiff who is the successful litigant herein.
Made in CHAMBERS
at Blantyre this February, 2004.