Theft Of US$600 000 Home: Mutumbuka Loses Supreme Court Appeal

Dzingai Barnabas Mutumbuka, Zimbabwe’s first Education minister, has lost his appeal at the Supreme Court against the fraudulent sale of his Chisipite home. Mutumbuka’s US$600,000 property was sold for only US$140,000 by fraudsters working with Deeds Office staff who changed the ownership documents. Mutumbuka successfully had the suspects arrested and launched an appeal at the Supreme Court to reverse a default High Court judgment, but the appeal was lost due to his failure to pay the required security fee, NewsDay reported. The Supreme Court registrar said in a notice to Mutumbuka:

Reference is made to the civil appeal you filed on Thursday, the 28th day of September 2023. It is noted that you did not comply with Rule 55 (5) of the Supreme Court rules (2018) with regards to pay merit of security costs. In terms of Sub-rule (6) of Rule 55 of the aforementioned rules, the appeal is regarded as abandoned.

Security costs in this case refer to the fees or money required by the Supreme Court for the appellant, Dzingai Barnabas Mutumbuka, to continue with the appeal. These costs are meant to ensure that Mutumbuka has a financial stake in the case and can cover any potential expenses. If the security costs are not paid, the Supreme Court may consider the appeal abandoned, meaning Mutumbuka loses the chance to have the default High Court judgment overturned. The specific amount or details of the security costs are not mentioned, but they are a common practice to ensure people are serious about their appeals.