By Rhodah Mvula
Two Tanzanians and a Zambian who were claiming to be the owners of the 48 houses which were forfeited by the State have withdrawn the case which was before the Lusaka High Court.
The plaintiffs filed in a notice of discontinuation against the defendants the Anti-Corruption Commission on 29th March 2021.
In this matter, Uziel Bashire, Zuberi Bigawa and Charles Loyana had sued the ACC for seizing their alleged property
The Anti- Corruption Commission had dismissed the allegations by two Tanzanians and a Zambian claiming to be the owners of the 48 houses.
The plaintiffs in the matter were seeking for an order for the defendants to account and pay to the plaintiffs all the income received as rentals from the date of the seizure to the date of the order.
However, in defence ACC said it will prove that the first plaintiff is not the beneficial owner of the property as he does not have capacity to own land in Zambia.
Contrary to the plaintiffs’ submissions that they had transferred the property to Mr. Chali Chitala a lawyer, ACC said they interviewed Mr. Chitala who refused owing the property.
Further the commission had told the court that it followed the procedure of forfeiting the properties in dispute to the State.