The Gaborone High Court has finally put an end to a nine-year legal tussle between two construction giants, Kwena Concrete Products (PTY) LTD and Unik Construction Engineering.
Justice Dr. Godfrey Radijeng dismissed both companies’ claims, which included Kwena’s P22 million demand for damages and Unik’s P27 million counterclaim for lost profits.
The dispute began in 2017 over the quality of concrete railway sleepers supplied by Kwena Concrete for the Tshele Hill railway project. Unik Construction rejected thousands of sleepers, claiming they were below standard, and turned to a South African supplier to complete the project on time.
Kwena Concrete argued that Unik had approved the specifications and demanded payment of P7.2 million for goods supplied and P12.8 million for damages due to what they believed was the unlawful termination of their agreement. Unik, however, countered that the sleepers failed to meet Transnet and PRASA standards (South African benchmarks) and demanded P27 million for lost profits, transportation costs, and other expenses.
During the trial, Kwena Concrete called only one witness, while Unik Construction brought multiple witnesses who were involved in the initial contract negotiations. Justice Radijeng agreed with Unik’s argument, noting that the evidence indicated that Kwena’s representative, Duncan Kgame, was aware of the required specifications for the production of the sleepers.
“I agree with the defendant further that the failure by the plaintiff to call witnesses whom it had intended to call and provided summaries of their evidence, only to call a witness who was not privy to the antecedents leading to the signing of the agreement, calls for the inference that the plaintiff feared that the evidence to be led would have exposed it to unfavourable evidence,” Justice Radijeng noted.
He also dismissed Unik’s counterclaim, ruling that neither party had sufficiently proven their case.
Both claims were dismissed, and each party was ordered to bear its own costs. The ruling brings closure to a long-standing feud that has kept the construction industry on edge for nearly a decade.
