Online Reporter
Fidelis Munyoro
Chief Court Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has invoked emergency powers to prevent the seizure of essential assets belonging to Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe’s Zvataida Rural District Council, halting the execution of a High Court order issued in September.
The move, formalised under Statutory Instrument 222A of 2025, temporarily extends the protections of the State Liabilities Act to the council’s property, shielding critical service delivery equipment from attachment and sale.
The High Court’s order, HC.3032/25, had authorised the registration of an arbitral award, paving the way for creditors to seize council-owned assets, which include tractors, vehicles, generators and essential office equipment.
These items, according to the Government, are vital for the delivery of basic services to over 150 000 residents in the region.
Their removal, the President argued, risks exposing residents to severe public health crises, including outbreaks of dysentery, typhoid and cholera due to uncollected refuse and degraded infrastructure.
The emergency regulations, cited as the “Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Extension of State Liabilities Act to the Assets of Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe Zvataida Rural District Council) Regulations, 2025”, were gazetted yesterday.
Section 3 of the regulations explicitly nullifies any attachments under the court order, stating, “all assets of the Local Authority that were attached or are threatened with attachment and sale in execution… are hereby released from attachment and revert to or remain in the possession of the Local Authority for the duration of these regulations.”
The President’s intervention, enabled by section 2(1) of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act [Chapter 10:20], emphasises urgency, public safety and the economic interests of the state.
The law permits the President to enact temporary measures when an urgent situation “cannot adequately be dealt with in terms of any other law” and when waiting for parliamentary approval is deemed “inexpedient.”
The council’s assets include two Massey Ferguson tractors, one New Holland tractor, trailers, a Kipor generator and a fleet of vehicles, among other equipment.
The Government contends that these items are critical for ensuring waste collection road maintenance, and other essential services in the rural district.
Without them, the local authority would be incapacitated, leaving residents vulnerable to catastrophic health risks.
The seizure had placed the rural council in a precarious position, threatening its ability to fulfill its public service mandate.
The Government has justified the suspension of the attachments as a necessary safeguard to prevent harm to residents and neighbouring communities.
The regulations will remain in effect until further notice, providing the rural district council with temporary relief as it navigates its financial and legal challenges.
What this translates to is that the President can protect defaulters. How then do people operate going forward? It means people will hesitate to do business with councils if the President can stop them from demanding what belongs to them. And councils will default knowing that they have the protection of the President.Something is scary in this whole process.