By A Correspondent-Former Water Resources Minister Munacho Mutezo, who served under the late President Robert Mugabe, is on the brink of losing valuable farm machinery and livestock after failing to settle a US$750,000 debt owed to a former business partner Mutezo, who was expelled from ZANU PF in 2016 for allegedly backing then-Vice President Joice Mujuru’s failed bid to succeed Mugabe, has been battling since November last year to prevent the auctioning of property at his Fernicary Farm, trading as Rutendo Farm, in Manicaland His latest attempt to stop the asset seizure was dismissed by High Court judge Justice Samuel Deme last week The court rejected Mutezo’sinterpleaderapplication, which sought to block the auction by claiming that some of the attached assets belonged to the government
The debt stems from a lawsuit filed by Des Moines Farm, which demanded US$750,000 (or the equivalent in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate) for infrastructure improvements it made to Fernicary Farm The claim also included 5% annual interest from the date of summons and legal costs on an attorney-client scale Following a trial presided over by Justice Bongani Ndhlovu, the court ruled that Fernicary Farm must pay US$455,000 in compensation plus legal costs In enforcement of the ruling, the sheriff attached several movable assets at the farm in Odzi, Makoni District
The attached property includes:
In his affidavit, Mutezo claimed that six of the attached items—including the combine harvester, power transformer, pipes, generator, pump, and electric motor—belonged to the government He argued these were issued under the 2007–2008 farm mechanisation programme by then-Agriculture Minister Joseph Made and were therefore immune from seizure in private debt matters Mutezo asserted he had merely been entrusted to manage the equipment, which he said had also benefited neighbouring farmers, and asked the court to acknowledge the assets as government property However, Des Moines Farm dismissed his claims as a “grave misrepresentation,” arguing that the assets were owned and used by Fernicary Farm and that Mutezo had failed to provide evidence of state ownership
“Claimant is no longer a government official He was expelled from ZANU PF and Parliament in 2016 and is now a founding member of the opposition Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF), which has no link to the government,” court papers stated Source: Zimeye
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Source: Zimeye
