Yango-Linked Companies Taken to Court Over Drivers’ Employment Benefits

A group of drivers and delivery workers operating through Yango-branded digital platforms in Zambia has taken three companies associated with the service to the High Court, seeking recognition as employees and access to statutory employment benefits.

In a statement of claim filed at the High Court for Zambia in Lusaka, Steven Kayumba, suing on his own behalf and in a representative capacity for 10 others, argues that the workers’ relationship with Yango Zam Limited, Yango Delivery Zam Limited and Yango Deli Zam Limited amounts to employment rather than independent contracting.

The claim covers drivers, riders, bikers, cyclists and delivery personnel who provide or have provided transport and delivery services through platforms operating under the Yango brand.

Kayumba argues that the companies exercise significant control over how workers obtain and perform their duties, including influencing fares, delivery charges, commissions, incentives and other payment arrangements. He also alleges that workers have limited ability to negotiate prices directly with customers and depend on the platforms for access to customers and earning opportunities.

The claim further alleges that the companies control or influence the allocation of trips and deliveries, monitor performance through customer ratings and other indicators, and can restrict, suspend or deactivate workers’ accounts.

Kayumba argues that these arrangements, alongside requirements for workers to perform services personally and the integration of their work into the companies’ operations, support the case for recognising them as employees.

He is also challenging the use of intermediary entities described as “partners”, fleet operators or service partners, arguing that these arrangements should not alone determine workers’ legal status. He wants the court to consider the practical circumstances of the working relationship rather than relying solely on contractual descriptions such as independent contractor or service provider.

The claim relies on the Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019 and asks the court to determine whether the workers qualify as employees of the companies.

If successful, the workers are seeking recognition and regularisation of their employment status, as well as any statutory benefits the court determines are due. These could include annual leave or leave pay, overtime and other working-time entitlements, notice pay, qualifying terminal or severance benefits, statutory social security and pension contributions, and employment records required by law.

The plaintiff is also seeking an account of any amounts owed, interest on monetary awards, legal costs and orders requiring the companies to disclose records needed to assess the claims.

According to the statement of claim, the precise amounts owed to individual workers cannot yet be fully calculated because relevant records are allegedly held by the defendants. These include driver and courier agreements, registration documents, trip and delivery histories, earnings and payment records, commissions, deductions, incentives, performance ratings and account suspension or deactivation records.

Kayumba is asking the court to order the preservation and production of these records to help determine individual claims.

The court action follows a demand letter dated June 8, 2026, through which Kayumba and other affected workers, represented by their legal practitioners, sought recognition of their employment status and the associated statutory rights and benefits. The claim states that the dispute was not resolved, prompting the legal proceedings.

The court has been asked to determine which of the three companies, individually or collectively as applicable, should be regarded as the employer of the plaintiff and the categories of workers represented in the action.

The case remains a claim before the court. The allegations have not been judicially determined, and the filing does not establish that the companies are legally the workers’ employers.