Malawi Government is demanding $15million (about K26billion) from Star Agritech International for failing to honour payment after it obtained tobacco from the country in 2013.
Attorney general Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda
Star Agritech International is a Turkish company.
Government, through the attorney general Chakaka Nyirenda has given the company, 21 days to provide full compensation failing which he will initiate criminal prosecution against its directors.
According to a demand letter dated November 1 2024 addressed to the company’s managing director Ambassador Ahmet Semseddin Arda, the matter dates back to October 2013 when Malawi Leaf Company Limited (MLCF) and the company, then known as Star Tobacco International, entered into a contract to buy over three million kgs of tobacco from Malawi.
MLCF is a State-owned enterprise incorporated and established by government in 2006 as an indigenous tobacco buying company to stabilise the country’s tobacco industry which was then dominated by multinational companies.
“If they do not, we will bring a civil claim for damages against the company in additional to criminal proceedings against directors of the company,” Chakaka Nyire
