adminEddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
ZIFA have 24 hours to challenge the auctioning of their headquarters and other buildings over a longstanding debt to travel agent LED Travel and Tours.
The association’s headquarters situated at 53 Livingstone Avenue in Harare, a house in Kensington and the Southern Region office in Bulawayo were attached over a $340 000 debt and could go under the hammer tomorrow.
The properties were advertised in a notice of sale issued by Southbay Real Estate in yesterday’s issue of The Herald. The estate agents indicated that they will conduct the auction tomorrow at Raylton Sports Club in Harare.
LED Travel and Tours lawyer Philip Nyakutombwa of Mugabe/Nyakutombwa Legal Counsel yesterday said the sale will go ahead as advertised if they don’t get orders from the courts.
“We have received no instruction from our client to stand down in this issue and there was no urgent High Court application or court order to stop us.
“So as things stand the public auction will have to go ahead unless something happens in the courts between now and the auction,” said Nyakutombwa.
ZIFA, however, claim the properties are not owned by the association as they are registered under a separate company called ZIFA (Private) Limited.
The company, through their lawyers Gollop and Blank Legal Practitioners, are expected to file an urgent court application to stop the auctions.
The properties, whose title deeds are held in trust by the legal practitioners, include ZIFA House at No. 53 Livingstone Avenue in Harare, the ZIFA Village in Mt Hampden, a house along McLoughlin Road in Kensington, and another house in Bulawayo.
LED Travel and Tours were issued with a writ of execution early this month to attach the buildings after ZIFA had failed to service longstanding debts.
The association’s communications manager, Xolisani Gwesela, refused to discuss the matter and said the case was being handled by ZIFA (Private) Limited lawyers Gollop and Blank Legal Practitioners.
However, LED Travel and Tours lawyer Nyakutombwa said there are strong clues that the properties they attached belong to ZIFA.
“We have copies of the audited financial statements which shows that ZIFA had non-current assets valued at US$973 380 in 2011 and in 2013 the value had changed to US$1,7 million.
“Non-current assets can only refer to buildings and equipment and the only explanation for the change in their value between 2011 and 2013 is that this was the same period when the ZIFA Village was built.
“And for the auditors to include the assets in their consolidated financial statements it means they were shown the assets. Otherwise the auditors will have to explain in detail what they meant by non-current assets in those financial statements.
“The first thing that auditors do when they set in is to ask for a register of assets so that they verify the assets and the title deeds,” said Nyakutombwa.
LED Travel and Tours claim the ZIFA debt to their client had risen to around $340 000 because of interests and other legal costs.
According to court documents, LED Travel and Tours secured a court order in 2012 for the sum of US$209 460,92 together with interest and costs under case number 4623/12.
The debt was for car and bus rentals amounting to US$141 984,92 and air tickets for the Warriors valued at US$67 467. The other debt emanated from an agreement between ZIFA and Led Travel and Tours for the company to borrow money from BancABC and FBC Bank on behalf of the association to finance the Warriors’ Fifa 2014 World Cup qualifying cam- paign.
The loans, which amounted to US$90 000, were to cover the cost of the air tickets, with the ZIFA Trust underwriting the transaction. ZIFA acknowledged the debts and had undertaken to service the debts from January 31 this year.
Online Reporter