A Harare woman is on the verge of losing her upmarket house
to a local commercial bank amid claims legal processes were abused in the bid
to seize the property.
Eva Muzuva has since appealed to President Emmerson
Mnangagwa to intervene after she was given up to December 31 to pay back money
borrowed from FBC Bank by one of her relatives.
Muzuva used her house in Harare’s Mt Pleasant suburb to
guarantee a loan taken by Duncan Mukondiwa of Dunleth Enterprises way back in
2010.
Mukondiwa says he fell sick while in the United States and
his business back home suffered due to neglect to a point that he could not
service the loan.
Muzuva approached the courts to try and save the house
after FBC moved in to claim it, but lost the cases up to the Supreme Court. She
believes that FBC Bank, however, did not play according to the rules.
In September 2013, Muzuva was taken to court over the
guarantee that she signed after Mukondiwa failed to service the loan and FBC
wanted to sell her property to offset the loan as standard practice.
She believes what followed the court process “was unfair
and grossly inhuman”.
The matter was heard by Justice Happias Zhou and she argued
through lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa that the bank could not sell her property
because the $150 000 limited guarantee had been serviced.
Mukondiwa testified that Muzuva had signed up for a $150
000 guarantee.
The bank, however, insisted the guarantee was unlimited and
was signed before two bank officials, a claim denied by the woman.
Mtetwa asked FBC to present bank statements to prove
Mukondiwa’s payments, but nothing came out. Mukondiwa’s two properties had
already been sold for close to $400 000.
Justice Zhou ruled against Muzuva, who appealed to the
Supreme Court, but lost again.
She engaged another lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku, who tried to
plead with the bank to allow her to put a tenant in the house and use the
proceeds to pay off the debt, but the financial institution rejected the offer.
She approached the High Court for her matter to be heard
regarding her proposal but while she was still waiting for a court date, the
sheriff auctioned the house and FBC won the bid.
She challenged the actions of the deputy sheriff and won
the case, with the court ordering that the sale of the house should be halted
until the raging court case was concluded.
The sheriff, however, advertised the house again and FBC
was said to have won again.
Muzuva again challenged the sale of the house and another
sheriff ruled that the sale was lawful, and in less than 30 days required by
law to challenge any ruling, the sale had been concluded without a court order.
Madhuku challenged the process but the High Court ruled
that the sale of the property should go ahead.
Muzuva is supposed to vacate the house at the end of this
month, but the High Court will hear her urgent application on December 27 as
she tries to rescue the property.
She said she also made a report to the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging abuse of power, extortion, forgery and fraud
by judicial officers. Standard
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