RBZ seeks immunity from prosecution

Published: 04 October 2013

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has approached the Supreme Court seeking to be granted immunity from prosecution and reprieve against paying back Bindura Trojan Nickel Mine over $1 million seized from the latter's account held at BancABC in 2007.

In its application before the court, the RBZ said High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi's judgment, ordering RBZ to return $1 007 541, 30 to Trojan Mine, had the potential of "opening floodgates" which would result in the Central Bank being plagued with applications from other institutions whose funds were still held by the bank.

RBZ lawyer Advocate Linos Mazonde later sought postponement of the hearing saying he wanted to furnish the court with further evidence that the Central Bank was now enjoying immunity in terms of the General Laws Amendment Act number 5/11.

Judges of Appeal, Justices Paddington Garwe, Bharat Patel and Anne-Mary Gowora, who were presiding over the matter, asked Mazonde not to present submissions that were divorced from the heads of arguments which the court was relying upon.

The intervention of the court and further submissions by Trojan Mine's lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri resulted in the matter being postponed sine die by consent to allow RBZ to file the said documents.

Prior to the postponement, Uriri had submitted that the Central Bank was improperly before the court arguing that it had raised matters of facts that had not been presented before the High Court.

Uriri further said RBZ's notice of appeal was invalid and the issues raised by Mazonde would not take the matter further since the question on RBZ not being negligent and acting in good faith had also not been raised in the lower court.

The dispute between the bank and the mine dates back to October 2007, when the RBZ moved to officially seize all funds in foreign currency accounts converting them to local notation.

During the same month, the RBZ issued a monetary statement centralising all foreign currency accounts and directing the lodgement, within 24 hours, of all corporate foreign currency balances held by authorised dealers.

- newsday

Tags: RBZ,