LEBANESE businessperson, Jamal Ahmed, who recently caused a fierce storm after he dragged First Lady Grace Mugabe to court over his seized upmarket houses in Harare, yesterday told the court, through his lawyer, that he wanted assurances that police would not arrest him when he comes back to Zimbabwe to execute his court matters.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Jamal dragged Grace, together with her son Russell Goreraza and Kennedy Fero in a dispute emanating from the purchase of a $1,4 million diamond ring, to court.
However, Ahmed, who was supposed to attend another court hearing in which he is suing his former business partner, Petros Chaponda, over stolen vehicles, failed to turn up, as he was said to be in Belgium.
Ahmed’s lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, told High Court judge, Justice Happius Zhou that his client was prepared to come to Zimbabwe and execute his cases, but needed assurance he would not be harassed by the police.
“I want to put it on record that my client has problems with the First Lady, but he is anxious to present his case once he has made arrangements to come. He is going to engage the international community with a view to seek assurances from the government that he will not be arrested when he comes here,” Samkange said.
“My client is not a criminal, but he only has problems that need to be resolved between him and the First Lady.”
Samkange further said although his client was going to apply for an interdict to the bar the police from arresting him, there was no guarantee that the law enforcement agents would honour the court order.
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“If the judges do not obey their own orders, what about Ahmed? Are they going to respect an order not to arrest him when he comes? I once obtained an interdict against the Chief Justice [Godfrey Chidyausiku] himself and what did he do? He disrespected it,” he said, before Justice Zhou interjected and directed him to focus at the case in hand.
Chaponda’s lawyer, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, opposed the application for postponement, but Justice Zhou ruled in Ahmed’s favour and ordered him to pay costs at a higher scale.
