Gono being Sued for US$50,000
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono has been slapped with a lawsuit of over US$50 000 by a Gweru-based businessman.
The suit is for damages that arose from a road accident involving a tractor from Gono’s New Donnington Farm last year.
In papers filed in the High Court, Bernard Vengayi says that on September 10, 2008, his Mercedes Benz Compressor was involved in a collision with Gono’s tractor along the Harare-Bulawayo road just outside Norton.
He however blames the accident on the tractor driver, Benjamin Chuma. Vengayi said Chuma was travelling in the middle of the road instead of the extreme left, and that he did not have a valid driver’s licence.
Apart from that, he said, the tractor’s trailer which was carrying 30 passengers had no rear lights despite the fact that it was dark.
As a result of the accident, Vengayi said the vehicle suffered extensive damages to the front “and according to the insurer’s expert the vehicle is a total loss”.
He said the vehicle was damaged beyond economic repair and is claiming US$30 000 in compensation, being the value and replacement value of the vehicle.
He is also claiming an interest at the rate of 30% per annum from September 10 to the date of payment.
Vengayi is also suing the central bank governor for damages in the sum of US$2 000 a month calculated from the date of the accident to the date of payment.
The payment, Vengayi says, is to cover the costs he incurred hiring an alternative vehicle following the damages to his car.
He is also demanding the sum of US$10 000 for damages arising from the pain and suffering inflicted on him following the accident. He is also claiming an interest of 30% per annum from September 10 to the date of payment.
The US$10 000 covers part of the medical expenses incurred by the complainant.
However, in a surprise twist to the case, the complainant says three days after his legal team served Gono with the papers he received phone calls from Norton police instructing him to attend the Norton Magistrates’ Court to answer to charges arising from the accident.
Gono’s response to the lawsuit was not immediately clear. He could not be reached for comment last week.
The state will on May 5, when the case appears in court, say that he was driving at an excessive speed in the circumstances and in the process failed to keep a proper lookout and to maintain control of the vehicle.
Vengayi is also being charged with failure “to stop or act reasonably when accident or collision seemed imminent”.
BY EDGAR GWESHE
Source
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/local/20251-gono-slapped-with-us50-000-lawsuit.html
Posted by Dave Fish Eagle
on April 26, 2009. Filed under Bizarre.
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