Tomana loses Supreme Court US$114,000 debt appeal

The late Zimbabwean ambassador Johannes Tomana lost his Supreme Court appeal against Tian Ze Tobacco Company over a debt of US$114,749.80 for farming inputs. Tomana had contested a High Court judgment that upheld an arbitral award in favor of Tian Ze.

Tomana, who was a commercial tobacco farmer, had entered into contracts with Tian Ze between 2008 and 2012. Due to his failure to produce the agreed amount of tobacco and clear previous debts, he owed Tian Ze US$114,749.80 by June 2015. The debt led to arbitration, where Tian Ze was awarded the amount owed.

Tomana appealed to the Supreme Court after the High Court dismissed his attempt to set aside the arbitral award. He argued that the High Court erred by partially setting aside the award and claimed that the award was not severable and that Tian Ze’s claim had prescribed.

The Supreme Court found that Reuben Tomana, Johannes’s brother and farm manager, should not have been included as a principal in the arbitration since he acted solely as Johannes’s agent. The court agreed with the High Court’s decision to remove Reuben from the award as a co-debtor.

The judges also noted that the acknowledgment of debt by Reuben interrupted the prescription period, thus validating Tian Ze’s claim. The appeal was deemed without merit and dismissed, upholding the original arbitral award against Johannes Tomana.