Well, this is a new one. A British guy just got a Zimbabwean court to greenlight the sale of a local woman's house to settle a debt from a rental dispute in the UK. Clayton Allen took Blessing Chinganga to a British county court over unpaid rent on a place in Wolverhampton. He won a judgment for over five thousand pounds, plus interest. When she did not pay up there, he brought the case here, targeting her property on Norton Road in Norton.
Chinganga fought it hard. She claimed the High Court here had no power to get involved. She argued the UK judgment was fraudulent and she was not even present for it. She also tried to throw out the affidavit from Allen's lawyer. Justice Jacob Manzunzu was not having any of it. He shot down every argument. The judge ruled that Zimbabwean courts can indeed enforce foreign judgments under common law, regardless of specific treaties. He said the key is whether the original ruling is final and from a competent court, which this was. He also stated that a lawyer can file an affidavit if they know the procedural facts personally.
The bottom line is that the court approved Allen's application. Chinganga's Norton property is now officially declared executable, meaning it can be sold to cover that UK debt. The judge would not award extra legal costs to Allen, but she still has to pay the standard ones on top of everything else. The ruling basically sets a precedent that if you have assets here, a foreign judgment can follow you home and a local court can authorize their seizure to settle the score, as long as the paperwork is in order. Tough break.
Chinganga fought it hard. She claimed the High Court here had no power to get involved. She argued the UK judgment was fraudulent and she was not even present for it. She also tried to throw out the affidavit from Allen's lawyer. Justice Jacob Manzunzu was not having any of it. He shot down every argument. The judge ruled that Zimbabwean courts can indeed enforce foreign judgments under common law, regardless of specific treaties. He said the key is whether the original ruling is final and from a competent court, which this was. He also stated that a lawyer can file an affidavit if they know the procedural facts personally.
The bottom line is that the court approved Allen's application. Chinganga's Norton property is now officially declared executable, meaning it can be sold to cover that UK debt. The judge would not award extra legal costs to Allen, but she still has to pay the standard ones on top of everything else. The ruling basically sets a precedent that if you have assets here, a foreign judgment can follow you home and a local court can authorize their seizure to settle the score, as long as the paperwork is in order. Tough break.
