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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
Harare City Council will have to fork out over $50 000 to pay 43 Mbare families, whose properties were destroyed after flash floods hit the suburb late last year.
The council was held vicariously liable for negligence in a High Court ruling handed down on Wednesday.
The residents had filed a claim of $100 000, but Justice David Mangota reduced the claim to $57 556,70 plus costs of suit.
The city’s poor drainage system was noted as the cause of the flash floods.
“The defendant is ordered to pay the plaintiff’s sum of $57 556, 70 together with costs from date of summons at the interest rate of five percent until full payment,” read the operative part of the judgment. Greater details of the reasons for judgment were not immediately available.
The residents, who were represented by Mr Allen Moyo of Allen Moyo Attorneys, sued Harare City at the High Court in May for negligence.
In their class action, the residents claimed that they lost an assortment of movable and immovable properties in last year’s flash floods in the crowded high-density suburb.
The families numbering 47 accused the local authority of negligently approving construction of Sunshine Bazaar Mall along Simon Mazorodze Road without conducting a proper environmental impact assessment of the project.
They said the construction of the mall congested the drainage system, which caused flash floods that destroyed their homes and household effects. The flash floods affected Mbare residents, mostly those who live along Dumbutshena, Mwamuka, Mbirimi and Chinamhora streets.
The residents also accused Harare of failing to inspect the clogged pipes caused by the construction of the complex. If they had noted the fault on time, they would have fixed it, they said.
Online Reporter