Online Reporter
Fidelis Munyoro
Chief Court Reporter
Masimba Holdings won a major victory in the High Court after its application to register a US$264 400 arbitral award was granted.
The case against Rueson Investments involved a dispute over an agreement made in 2024.
The matter was resolved through arbitration, as stipulated in their contract, but the enforcement of the award required court approval.
The dispute arose when Masimba Holdings claimed Rueson Investments breached its contractual obligations under the agreement.
Following arbitration, the arbitrator Advocate Thembinkosi Magwaliba ruled in favour of Masimba Holdings on July 30, 2025, awarding them $264 400.
However, the award was not immediately handed over due to unpaid arbitration fees, which Masimba Holdings eventually paid on behalf of both parties to secure the release of the decision.
Rueson Investments opposed the award’s registration, arguing that a correction made by the arbitrator on October 31, 2025, was invalid because it was issued outside the statutory 30-day correction period.
They claimed the timeline should have started when the parties were notified of the award’s availability, not when it was physically handed over. Masimba Holdings countered that the 30-day period began only when they physically received the signed award on October 10, 2025.
Justice Lucy-Anne Mungwari agreed with Masimba Holdings, stating, “Receipt occurs upon delivery, as defined in Article 3(1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law.
The 30-day period under Article 33 only begins to run upon such receipt.” The judge ruled that the correction, which addressed a minor typographical error without altering the substance of the award, was valid and fell within the prescribed timeline.
The court also dismissed Rueson Investments’ argument that the arbitrator had lost jurisdiction, emphasising that the correction was made within the arbitrator’s statutory authority.
Justice Mungwari further noted that Rueson Investments could not benefit from its own failure to pay fees, which delayed the release of the award.
The judge concluded that there were no valid grounds to refuse the registration of the award under Article 35 of the Model Law.
With the court’s decision, the arbitral award was registered as an order of the High Court, and Rueson Investments was ordered to pay $264 400 to Masimba Holdings, along with legal costs.
