FOUR former MDC employees have now applied for the High
Court to issue a garnishee order against the party’s bank accounts to recover
terminal benefits and salaries which they are owed.
Wilson Box, Aleck Tabe, Geraldine Sibanda, and Lawrence
Paganga previously sued the MDC Alliance, but recently directed their lawsuits
against the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T group and specifically wanted US$155 318
deducted from the government grant the party recently received.
However, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that neither
MDC Alliance nor MDC-T can receive the $7,5 million political funding under the
Political Parties Finance Act until a resolution on the on-going legal battle
over which formation is entitled to the money is settled.
According to the Political Parties Finance Act, all parties
that poll more than five percent of the vote in a general election share the
sum budgeted for political parties each year in proportion to their votes.
Box and his colleagues cited Justice minister Ziyambi
Ziyambi, MDC-T and CBZ bank as respondents in the High Court application and
want deductions made until the US$155 318
together with interest at the prescribed rate and taxed costs have been
paid in full.
Box and his colleagues obtained court orders against MDC-T
in terms of an arbitration award and filed writs of execution against its moveable
property.
One of the applicants instructed the sheriff to attach
MDC-T’s moveable goods in order to recover the money, but the return of service
indicated that the party’s property was insufficient to cover the debt.
The court heard Box and his colleagues were not aware of
the specific details of MDC-T’s property and can no longer instruct the sheriff
to attach them.
In the event that they find the immovable property, the
amounts realised from the sale of the said property, they argued, may not be sufficient
to cover the debt.
The court heard that MDC-T lawyers had written to Box and
his colleagues on April 26 indicating intentions to pay the debt from the
government grant.
“To secure payment of the said money to applicants, the
applicants have, therefore, approached this honourable court seeking a
garnishee order against MDC-T’s bank account or any other account which their
funds are disbursed,” reads the application. Daily News
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