Warring camps in court over P1.5m
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Thursday April 13, 2017 14:37
Both parties have been warring since the former instituted legal action against the latter over P1.5 million that went missing from its Motshelo account.
GN/MCDT is suing MWDT over the missing P1.5m from its Barclays Motshelo account, which was transferred by two Moshawa Water Development Trust members, who at the time were signatories of the trust’s account housing the money generated from the standpipe.
The defendants in the case are Linnet Habana, Simphiwe Mathendele and Moshawa Water Development Trust, which is a break away from GN/MCDT, formed after the two were removed as signatories.
Through attorneys Uyapo Ndadi and Phazha Molebatsi, GN/MCDT has filed court papers in efforts to recover stolen money. The case is currently before Justice Michael Mothobi of Gaborone High Court and is scheduled for May 18, 2017.
The applicant seeks the sum of P1.5m with 10% interest rate from February 2016 to date of final payment, payment of costs of the suit and own client scale from the defendants.
The applicant argues that the transfer of the P1.5m made by Habana and Mathendele from the Motshelo account to another in the name of the newly formed Moshawa Water Development Trust was without authority from the GN/MCDT Board of Trustees, therefore unlawful. They argue that the two made the transfer two days after they were removed from serving as signatories of the Motshelo Barclays bank account in February 2016, just before the bank could effect the process of the removal of Habana and Mathendele.
“The said money was transferred to a bank account owned by the third defendant (MWDT) and apparently the third defendant caused the transfer by instructing the first and second defendants to do so. The instruction was, however, unlawful as the money in the bank account did not belong to the third defendant,” argued the applicant.
“The plaintiff at the time of transfer removed the first and second defendant as signatories of the bank account by way of letter.”
The plaintiff further said that despite due and lawful demand made to the defendants to return the money, all defendants refused to return the money. The defendants were removed as signatories to the Motshelo bank account on March 3, 2016 through a court order by Justice Leburu of Lobatse High Court who ruled in favour of the GN/MCDT, ordering that the defendants should stop acting as GN/MCDT bank signatories at Barclays and not interfere with the trust’s work.
According to the court papers, the legal war started after Habana and Mathendele defected, running off with funds generated from the standpipe. The two areas, Gaborone North and Moshawa, do not have a water reticulation system and at some point, residents went for days without water as Water Utilities Corporation closed the standpipe due to pending bills. The standpipe, which provides running water, is said to generate over P1.5 million in annual sales to the areas, as the corporation is yet to connect water in the area.
Meanwhile, the third defendant has another case at the Court of Appeal challenging a judgement by Justice Michael Leburu in which he dismissed MWDT’s application for rescission and nullification following the March 3, 2016 court judgment