adminThe Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal chairman Justice Chinembiri Bhunu granted an urgent application by the Law Society of Zimbabwe to suspend Mr Sakutukwa from practice pending determination of another application for deregistration.
“The respondent, Thomas Sakutukwa, be and is hereby suspended from practice as a legal practitioner for a period of six weeks from the date of this order in terms of Section 26A(3) (b) of the Legal Practitioners’ Act pending an inquiry in terms of Part V of the Act regarding his fitness and propriety to practice as a legal practitioner.
“In terms of Section 26A(3) (b) of the Act, the respondent be and is hereby prohibited from operating in any way any trust account or business account or from opening trust or business account during the period of his suspension from the practice of the law.
“In terms of Section 26A(3) (c) of the Act, the respondent’s trust account(s) and business account(s) be and are hereby placed under curatorship of a legal practitioner nominated by the council of the LSZ, which legal practitioner shall have the power to act in urgent matters on behalf of the respondent’s clients and with such rights, duties and other powers in relation thereto as a legal practitioner in the practice of the law ordinarily has,” read the order.
Mr Sakutukwa was further ordered to pay the legal costs incurred by both parties in the application.
Advocate Lewis Uriri represented LSZ in the application while no one from Mr Sakutukwa’s side was in attendance.
The tribunal comprised Justice Bhunu, Justice Felistus Chatukuta and two other lawyers. On June 23 Victor Chinembiri and Irene Vambe wrote a letter of complaint to the society.
The two claim they engaged Mr Sakutukwa to do conveyancing work for the property they intended to buy.
It is the two’s claim that the property in question was being sold by Mr Sakutukwa’s estate agency known as New Native Properties.
It is alleged that the two paid the full purchase price of US$4 500 for a stand in Chitungwiza and it was deposited into Sakutukwa and Partners’ trust account.
However, the deal failed to sail through and instead, the two were offered numerous other properties, which required a deposit payment of US$75 000.
All the deals, according to the two, failed and they demanded their money back.
On June 25 this year Ms Annie Diba, a former employee of Sakutukwa and Partners, also wrote another letter to LSZ complaining that she was fired after going for two months without pay.
The termination, according to the papers, had no proper notice and that he had to pay the woman for the two months she had worked.
Mr Sakutukwa is also under fire for failure to release trust funds when it was required. The money belonged to a client called Shupai Marwe.
Another client Dr Owen Chanetsa, on August 15 2012, also wrote a letter complaining that Mr Sakutukwa’s estate agent had failed to properly handle a sale of property.
Mr Sakutukwa did not oppose the application and the order was granted in his absence.
Online Reporter