Gumbo Mutasa and Mliswa lawyers sue them for US $25 000 unpaid representation in their dismissal case from Zanu PF

Fighting the ruling Zanu-PF at court has proved costly for three politicians who were fired from the revolutionary party after their lawyers turned against them and took them to the High Court over unpaid legal fees to the tune of $25 000.

Rugare Eleck Ngidi Gumbo and Dydmus Mutasa, who are now with a new political outfit Zimbabwe People First, together with Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy leader Temba Mliswa, made headlines between 2015 and early this year for frequenting the High Court with suits against the revolutionary party.

The trio was last year expelled from Zanu-PF for allegedly trying to topple President Mugabe.

For the legal suits, the highly litigious trio enjoyed the services of Nyakutombwa, Mugabe Legal Counsel when they did not have the capacity to pay the law firm.

Nyakutombwa, Mugabe Legal Counsel raised a bill for all the services rendered but the three did not pay.

After unsuccessfully trying all the avenues to recover the debt, the law firm has issued summons at the High Court claiming the outstanding $25 000 from the politicians.

When the three were expelled from Zanu-PF last year, they approached the law firm seeking legal services.

“As a result of their expulsion, they approached the plaintiff and retained the plaintiff for the provision of several legal services related to their expulsion from the aforesaid political party.

“The services included challenging the aforesaid expulsion and seeking the enforcement of certain constitutional rights,” reads part of the plaintiff’s declaration.

In coming up with the bill, the law firm charged the trio for all opted services rendered and for all court attendances in terms of the Law Society of Zimbabwe General tariff of 2011.

No guarantee of success was given nor was failure of the cases a basis for non-payment of the due fees, the lawyers argued.

The trio lost all their cases at the High Court and the Supreme Court and became evasive in terms of settling the legal bill.

Mutasa and Gumbo were represented in a High Court case in which they were contesting expulsion from Zanu-PF under HC1914 and they left a balance of $2 950.

The lawyers are also claiming $5 181 from Mutasa and Mliswa for legal services rendered while they were pursuing another case at the Constitutional Court registered under CCZ 10/15.

Mutasa is being separately sued $1 380 for services in a case he required spoliation order against the Office of the President and Cabinet. Mutasa and Mliswa were also charged $12 463 in another constitutional challenge filed under CCZ 9/15 at the Constitutional Court. The law firm is also claiming $4 945 from Mutasa for representing him in a case he was fighting the Constituency Elections Office.

The lawyers want the trio to pay costs of the suit and to be obliged to pay interest on the total figures owed at the rate of 5 percent per annum calculated from the date of issuance of the summons to the date of payment in full. In one of the cases in which Mutasa and Gumbo were contesting expulsion at the High Court, the duo chickened out on March 30 this year. By Daniel Nemukuyu. source-chronicle