A Namibian high court ruled in favour of a contract held by commodities trader Glencore to import half of the African country’s fuel which the government had terminated last year, the Namibian newspaper reported on Friday.
State-owned petroleum firm Namcor had a 50% to 50% fuel supply deal with Glencore and its subsidiary Petroneft International that the government ended last year after saying it was not in Namibia’s favour after Namcor made massive losses from the deal.
Glencore challenged the government’s decision which saw its multi-million dollar contract evaporate.
But the court on Thursday overturned the cabinet decision and argued the parties should have had the right to be heard by cabinet before a decision was taken, the paper reported.
As such, the decision was in conflict with the constitutional right to fair procedure, the court was reported as saying.
Namcor late on Thursday appealed the ruling which means that the cabinet directive stands until the appeal is completed. — Reuters