PLAGUED by donor fatigue and declining membership, a broke opposition MDC-T saw its national headquarters in Harare reduced to an empty hall after the Sheriff of the High Court cleared all the office furniture, computers, printers and other goods to recover $108 000 in labour damages the party owes a former employee.
All the seven floors at Harvest House, along Nelson Mandela Avenue in Harare, that house offices of the cash-strapped opposition party, were left without any piece of furniture.The building has become infamous for violence, and a police officer recently lost his life there after being set upon by party goons, prompting the Sheriff, Mr Mcdoff Madhega and his team, to come for the execution under heavy police guard.
Last month, an official from Mr Madhega’s office was assaulted while trying to serve summons in yet another case in which the party was being sued for failing to pay facilitators of a failed “grand coalition” in the run-up to the 2013 harmonised elections.
The thugs forcibly took away the court official’s file containing several court papers that he intended to serve on other parties.
Business on streets adjacent to Harvest House came to a standstill yesterday as the police stopped people from accessing the part of Nelson Mandela Avenue housing Harvest House to facilitate the smooth removal of the property.
The Sheriff attached and removed various sets of sofas, office chairs and tables, desktop computers, printers, fridges, and other property, leaving the offices virtually empty.
Nine trucks, including a 30-tonne truck, were loaded with the attached property removed from the seven floors of Harvest House building, which was later offloaded at a warehouse in the light industrial area.
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| Broke MDC-T Furniture Seized Over $108k Debt •7 Harvest House Floors Wiped •Sheriff Attaches Goods Under Police Guard |
MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the Sheriff before he left Harvest House, allowing the court officials to do their work without hindrance. Water cannons and several police vehicles were parked along Nelson Mandela Avenue, cordoning off the way until the attachment and removal ended.
Passers-by watched in disbelief as tattered sets of sofas and broken chairs came out of the high rise building, which also has broken windowpanes.
MDC-T, which claims to be a labour-backed party, breached the labour laws by unfairly dismissing Ms Dura and 15 others from work when the matter was brought before an independent arbitrator.
The arbitral award ordered the reinstatement of the 16, adding that if reinstatement was no longer tenable, the political party was supposed to pay damages.
MDC-T did not comply with the award.
Instead, the political party appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court dismissed it.
The High Court confirmed the award and turned it into a court order compelling MDC-T to pay the damages. Failure by MDC-T to pay the damages resulted in Ms Dura instructing the Sheriff to attach the party’s property.
In the other case pending before the High Court, Mr Tsvangirai’s homeboy, Mr Moreprecision Muzadzi, is claiming $80 000 from the party. According to the papers, $50 000 was for violence that was allegedly perpetrated on him by MDC-T security details after he demanded his dues from Mr Tsvangirai at his Highlands residence.
Mr Muzadzi, in the summons, accused Mr Tsvangirai of reneging on his pledge to pay him with a Nissan NP200 and $7 800 after he played the emissary role.
He cited Mr Tsvangirai, his brother Manatsa and MDC-T deputy national chairman Mr Morgan Komichi as respondents.
