Scrirocco Enterprises Limited v Kafue District Council and Attorney General (Appeal No. 60/2011) [2012] ZMSC 85 (3 August 2012);
The court considered an appeal against various grounds of relief sought by the appellants.
The appellants, a mining company, resisted the imposition of sand levy at local government level, arguing that it amounted to double taxation. The appellants were disgruntled by the inclusion of crushed stones in the definition of sand under Regulation 2 of the Kafue District Council (sand levy) By-Laws, 2007 as unreasonable and ultra vires.
The court considered three issues, namely 1) whether originating summons was the correct way of bringing the action in the court below, 2) whether the mere allegation of unreasonableness was sufficient to commence the action through judicial review and 3) whether paying the sand levy could be considered double taxation.
The court held that the issues in the court below did not require pleadings. The use of a summons is designed to determine simple points quickly without pleadings. In holding that the imposition of the levy by the local government was sound, the court pointed out that courts should not interfere with policy decisions by democratically elected institutions.
The court found that the local government was empowered to tax crushed stones as sand since the definition of sand was wide enough to include crushed stones. Furthermore, the Council had the power to tax any commodities emanating from its jurisdiction. The court found that the process of mining sand causes land degradation and as such, the local authority have to mitigate such impacts by imposing levies.
Appeal dismissed.
IN THE SUPREME COURT FOR ZAMBIA SCZ Appeal No. 60/2011 HOLDEN AT NDOLA
(Civil Jurisdiction)
BETWEEN:
SCRIROCCO ENTERPRISES LIMITED APPELLANT
AND
KAFUE DISTRICT COUNCIL 1ST RESPONDENT