BY CHARLES LAITON
Agribank has approached the courts seeking to recover a real time gross settlement of a (ZWR) $33 720 loan advanced to former Finance minister Ignatius Chombo six years ago.
The former minister was issued with the court summons recently and he is yet to respond to the litigation.
According to Agribank, sometime in January 2013, Chombo applied for and was granted a loan facility of US$30 000 by the bank and in terms of the facility agreement he was supposed to settle the debt by October 31, 2013.
“In terms of the loan facility agreement, payment of the full amount fell due on October 31, 2013. Penalty interest began to run at the rate of US$18 per annum from the date of maturity. In default and, therefore, in breach of the agreement between the parties, the defendant has failed to pay the capital sum and interest thereon in the sum of ZWR$33 720,55,” the bank said.
“Despite demand, the defendant (Chombo) has refused to and/or neglected to pay the amount due to the plaintiff (Agribank).”
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Just recently, the High Court dismissed Chombo’s application for permanent stay of prosecution in a matter in which he is facing a plethora of criminal cases involving corruption, fraud and criminal nuisance.
High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi said Chombo’s abduction by the members of the Zimbabwe National Army, during operation restore legacy in November 2017 was not meant to extract a confession for criminal offences against him.
Following his arrest and subsequent appearance in court on criminal charges, Chombo last year sought a High Court order to compel the National Prosecuting Authority and its boss Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi, to permanently suspend his prosecution alleging violations of his constitutional rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
But, in his judgment dismissing Chombo’s application, Justice Mathonsi said the violation of Chombo’s rights by the army appeared to have been undertaken for no discernible reason at all, adding that excessive force and violence was used to capture him, leaving a trail of destruction.
The Judge further said Chombo was not subjected to physical assault and neither was there an attempt to extract evidence or a confession from him in respect of the offences he is now facing, hence he must face trial at the magistrates’ court.