HARARE – CAPS United must pay a 2017 debt in United States dollars, the High Court has ruled.
United accrued the US$10,835 debt after purchasing air tickets for their team. Since then, the club has refused to acknowledge the debt and then in June this year attempted to settle it at the discredited rate of US$1 : 1 RTGS, which was prevailing back in 2017.
Justice Christopher Dube-Banda this week ordered the Premier Soccer League club to settle their debt with Led Travel Tours in United States dollars and with interest. The travel company has separately demanded US$2,390 for car hire services extended to the club.
United paid Z$13,676 into the bank account of Led Travel Tours’ lawyers on June 4 this year.
Led Tours rejected the payment, their lawyers pointing out that the company is an agency that is affiliated to the International Transport Association (IATA) and issues airline tickets on credit. IATA, they argued, only accepts payments using a list of currencies, predominantly United States dollars.
The matter dragged on because CAPS United were refusing to acknowledge the debt, the High Court heard.
Zimbabwe used a multi-currency system until 2019 when the Zimbabwe dollar became the sole legal tender, with the conversion of United States dollar debts into the local currency at a hugely discredited rate of 1:1.
