ZANU PF Goromonzi West MP and chairperson of the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, Beatrice Nyamupinga, has been taken to the High Court by a local firm seeking to compel her to pay $19 000 for a vehicle she allegedly grabbed.
Report by Charles laiton
The firm, Backladen Enterprises, claims Nyamupinga grabbed its vehicle, a Nissan NP300, which was in the custody of its director’s friend, the late Theophilus Melusi, who allegedly owed the legislator. Nyamupinga, however, has since dismissed the claim, arguing the late Melusi was one of the firm’s co-directors, an assertion also dismissed by Backladen Enterprises.
The case, which has seen Nyamupinga making a counter claim against the firm, started sometime in December 2009, when Justice Mudzana, one of Backladen Enterprises directors, lent the vehicle to Melusi for use during the time the latter was not well.
It is alleged sometime in March 2010, Nyamupinga took possession of the vehicle from Melusi as surety over a $24 000 debt.
“In December 2010, the plaintiff (Backladen Enterprises) instituted legal proceedings by way of application for the return of the vehicle under case number HC6645/10. The defendant (Nyamupinga) opposed the application and in her defence she said she was holding the vehicle as a lien for Melusi’s debt,” Mudzana said.
However, while the case was still pending in court, Nyamupinga allowed the vehicle to be driven by a third party and it was involved in an accident and was damaged beyond repair, prompting the current court case. In her defence, Nyamupinga said the late Melusi told her he was the firm’s co-director and as such had surrendered the vehicle as surety for the loan.
