Nando�s franchise war resurfaces at CoA
Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday October 7, 2015 16:16
The bench of the CoA will this month hear the case in which Nando’s Holdings Botswana has filed an appeal after losing the case at the High Court. The fast-food giant’s main contention is that the franchise agreement with businesswoman, Ethel Gampone has long expired and that the franchise was only meant to run for 10 years. The food chain is also seeking a declaratory order for the expiration of the franchise agreement. Nando’s and its franchise holder, Ibrahim Khan, have been entangled in a war with Gampone over control of the restaurant chain’s Palapye outlet. The legal battle started when Nando’s filed an urgent application at the High Court demanding that Gampone and her company, Jago Productions, stop using the Nando’s brand. Khan and Nando’s argued that the franchise agreement had expired. Nando’s Holdings wanted to pass the franchise onto the Khan family.
Earlier this year, Gampone won at the High Court in a legal case in which the fast-food giant had lost several other technical battles.
One of these was when Justice Key Dingake ruled that several documents and paragraphs supporting Nando’s and Khan’s replying affidavit, be struck out as they constituted the construction of an entirely new case.
“It seems to me that some of the paragraphs quoted appear innocuous standing alone, but linked to the others complete a puzzle whose net effect is to construct an entirely new case that is at odds with Gampone’s case in the founding affidavit,” he said, before ruling that Gampone owned the rights to the franchise.
Nando’s also lost a permanent stay of execution, which it filed for after the judgement.