Aside from these qualifications, he has also attended continuous development training with the Link Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand where he was awarded a certificate of competence in Broadcasting and Digital Media Policy Regulatory Trends. He has also attended training at the University of Capetown in Effective Legal Writing.
Gonjetso Dikiya
Head of Legal | Dispute Settlement Services
Gonjetso Dikiya is the Head of Legal Services at Ritz Attorneys at Law-Dispute Settlement Services. He also heads the Telecommunications and Transport Law department. Gonjetso is an ardent telecommunications lawyer, but he also has vast general litigation experience and expertise. His main areas of interest are telecommunications transaction services, telecommunications mergers and acquisitions, spectrum access and use, authorizations and licensing, foreign ownership approvals, regulatory compliance, content provision, infrastructure deployment, and outsourcing of mobile network management.
Gonjetso has experience in several advice areas and dispute resolution in telecommunications contracts, drafting and reviewing commercial contracts, litigation, mediation, arbitration, regulatory compliance, and general consultancy services.
Gonjetso graduated from the University of Malawi in 2018. He was subsequently admitted to practice law in the Supreme Court of Appeal, the High Court of Malawi and all Courts subordinate thereto, in the same year. He subsequently graduated with a Master of Laws (distinction) in Information and Communications Law at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2020. His LLM focused on aspects of Telecommunications Law, Privacy Law, Media Law, Intellectual Property, and Cyberlaw.
Experience
Advising on of railway concession agreements in Malawi where he is in a team reviewing railway concession agreements between the Government of Malawi and Central East Africa Railways Limited and Vale Logistics. He is assisting a multinational Australian company that has recently ventured into the mining of precious metals in some parts of the country.
Gonjetso is part of the team that conducted legal due diligence for an international bank regarding a loan facility to a Government institution. In this Gonjetso will review the capacity of the parties to enter into the agreement, review the framework for applicable laws governing the agreements and render an opinion on their validity under local laws. Additionally, Gonjetso will participate in the drafting of security instruments and see to their registration and perfection.
Gonjetso has also been instrumental in rendering a critical advisory note to an international bank in relation to the advancement of a loan facility to a local financial institution to facilitate importation of fuel into Malawi during a period of acute shortage that posed threats on the economy.
Gonjetso advised on and drafted for Malawi Fertilizer Company Limited construction and financing contracts between MFC [Employer] and SR Nicholas Limited [the Contractor] and a project engineer for the first fertilizer loading bay in Liwonde in Malawi with a total value of over USD 6 million.
Gonjetso assisted SITA with the transition of its business model in Malawi from a non-profit institution to a profit-oriented institution. To this end Gonjetso was key in the registration of SITA B.V in Malawi and further assisting SITA B.V navigate the regulatory compliance framework to provide communications services in Malawi. To this end Gonjetso has assisted SITA B.V to secure all necessary authorizations and licensing from the Malawi communications regulatory Authority (MACRA).
Gonjetso handles the Afrimax Limited portfolio at ritz attorneys at law. In this capacity he has rendered company secretarial services, Advisory services to Afrimax on telecommunications contracts employment and regulatory compliance.
Gonjetso is the lead lawyer in this litigation by Afrimax Limited against Datacom and MACRA for losses incurred due to interference of its spectrum by Datacom. The said interference occasioned losses of over MWK 300 000 000.00 to Datacom.
Gonjetso is lead lawyer for Cement Products Limited [CPL] in a high stakes litigation defending CPL against a foreign arbitral award which CPL believes was obtained inappropriately in London. The litigation is currently in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal where CPL is challenging an order of the High Court registering the arbitral award contrary to prevailing statutory provisions.
Gonjetso was part of the team litigating disputes arising out of telecommunications infrastructure services contracts between Access Communications Limited and ESCOM.
Gonjetso is the lead lawyer on the Mybucks Banking Corporation Limited litigation portfolio with the Firm. He is currently spearheading litigation on twenty high profile cases for debt collection by the Bank in what is termed Project Sanitise. Project Sanitise seeks to recover debts of over MK 1 000 000 0000.00 for the Bank.
Further, Gonjetso is also the lead lawyer on a case by the bank against Stansfield motors limited for the realization of a guarantee that Stansfield Motors gave for a loan to commercial farmers of over MK 1 000 000 000.00.
Gonjetso was lead in securing a judgment against a major bus transport line for failure to repay a debt for a sum of over MK 700 000 000.00 to FDH Bank Plc. He further handled the liquidation proceedings against the said transport company after its failure to settle the outstanding judgment sum.
Gonjetso is the lead lawyer in watershed litigation on medical negligence against one of the leading medical specialists and one of the biggest hospitals in the country.