Woman ordered to pay US$58,873 after stokvel loan dispute

A Bulawayo woman, Sazini Phiri, has been ordered by the High Court of Zimbabwe to pay US$58,873 to a former friend following a legal dispute over loans advanced through a community savings scheme.

Justice Mpokiseng Dube, sitting in Bulawayo, ruled that Phiri was legally bound by an acknowledgement of debt she had signed in favour of Sizakele Nzima, rejecting her claims that the document was executed under duress linked to "ancestral money" and witchcraft.

"This is a claim for payment in the sum of US$58,873 based on an acknowledgement of debt," Justice Dube said, noting that Phiri's attempt to avoid liability was unconvincing.

The court heard that Phiri and Nzima were friends from the same rural area and active members of a stokvel, a type of community savings club. Their financial relationship grew as Phiri borrowed funds to support her restaurant, flea market stalls, and cross-border trading ventures.

Phiri "would routinely borrow cash to buy stocks in Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa," the judgment stated, and at times also borrowed money for rent, staff salaries, and food supplies. These loans were initially informal, advanced in small amounts without documentation, based on mutual trust — a practice that later contributed to the dispute.

The conflict escalated when the accumulated loans were formalised into a written acknowledgement of debt totalling US$58,873. Phiri admitted signing the document but argued she had borrowed only about US$10,000 and claimed the sum had inflated due to alleged illegal interest. She further alleged that she was coerced into signing at the creditor's lawyers' offices with threats involving her family and "ancestral" money.

The court dismissed these claims. "These are hallmarks of an adult of full legal capacity, who in her sound and sober mind elected to bind herself," Justice Dube said. "The threats of sorcery and other such matters are just but a ruse if not a red herring."

Phiri's husband, Sylvester, testified that he had attempted to intervene, claiming interest was being charged at 25 percent per week and that he was forcibly removed from the lawyers' offices. The court ruled that his involvement was irrelevant, emphasizing that Phiri is a businesswoman capable of entering contracts independently.

Justice Dube reaffirmed that contracts freely entered into cannot be undone merely because they appear harsh later. The court ruled that acknowledgements of debt are "clear, unequivocal and unambiguous" unless duress is proven, which Phiri failed to demonstrate.

Phiri was ordered to pay the full US$58,873, or its Zimbabwe dollar equivalent at the prevailing interbank rate, plus five percent interest from the date the summons were issued. She was also ordered to pay legal costs on an attorney-and-client scale.