26.
Applicant's case was indeed enrolled in the Industrial Relations Court
of Malawi. The court had to consider whether the Applicant's dismissal
was unfair in that it was,_for no valid reason and whether he had been
given the opportunity to be heard.
As the Applicant's dismissal was
before the enactment of the Employment Act 2000, the Court dealt with
the matter on the basis of section 43 of the Constitution which, as stated
earlier, provided for the right to fair labour practice. The court went into
the history of the matter; it held that the Applicant had refused to attend
a meeting called by his superior to discuss students' complaints, that he
failed to adapt or change his teaching methods, and that he had been
found to be incompetent; that, by 30 November 1999 when his dismissal
was recommended , he had not shown any improvement, hence his
dismissal on 2 December 1999. Furthermore, the court held that the
Applicant had been afforded the opportunity to be heard; in this respect,
the following appears in the last paragraph of page 4 of the judgment of
that Court:
"It was heard in the instant case that the applicant was invited to
appear before the Vice-Chancellor to answer to his failure to
improve following warning. The hearing was fair as far as the
right to be heard in administrative setting is concerned. What
was important was that at the time of the hearing the applicant
was free to state his case and put in his defence. The decision
to dismiss and the dismissal itself came after the hearing. The
applicant was
still
on probation.
All factors
taken
into
consideration, this court finds no compelling reason to interfere
". -~
with the sanction imposed .. . _
(12(
.
47 ~
s
C?;7
@_