Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

By Chikumbi Katebe

UPND lawyer Martha Mushipe says Libyan African Investment Company (LAICO) threatened her with eviction after they unreasonably increased rental charges at her Millennium Village offices in Longacres and is claiming K53 100.00 for damages during the alleged illegal eviction.

This is contained in an application to amend her statement of claim filed before the Lusaka High Court where she claims LAICO unreasonably increased rentals and threatened to evict her should she fail to pay the new charges.

Ms Mushipe said she had already applied for an ex-parte order of injunction to restrain the Libyan company from interfering in her residence at the villa until the matter was disposed off.

She has requested the court to allow her amend her claim in the interest of justice to provide the court with precise and conclusive material facts such as the refund for repair works to her office equipment and furniture, as well as missing money after the raid, in the sum of K60,000.

She said that her premises remained closed and were out of business for the period her landlord decided to take action to evict her as all employees were refused entry to conduct any work at the offices, or to collect or remove any thing, including personal effects during the purported eviction.

“The said execution was conducted without a court order following the fact that the matter was before the courts of law and as such required that the defendant obtained leave of the court to issue out the warrant of distress.

“Further, the warrant of distress was executed when the Honourable Judge Mrs B. .M. M. Mung’omba ,who is the judge having conduct of the matter, was out of jurisdiction,” she said.

She has applied to amend the fact that the warrant of distress was conducted in the absence of police officers as required.

She said although the property confiscated from her premises were returned, they were brought back dismantled and damaged for which she had to sub-contract people to repair and assemble some of them for continued use at her firm.