Senior Reporter
High Court judge Justice Garainesu Mawadze has blasted a Harare lawyer for abusing the court process and ordered him to pay legal costs on a higher scale from his own pocket after failing to properly advise his client to pay up a debt. Justice Mawadze took a swipe at the conduct of Mr Tawanda Kanengoni of Nyika, Kanengoni and Partners in representing Mrs Barbara Gonyora, who was challenging the decision to pay fees due to the executor and curator of the estate of her late husband. Mr Kanengoni, for the purposes of arguing the latest matter, instructed Advocate Girach Firoz.

Advocate Thembinkosi Magwaliba instructed by Mr Joshua Shekede of Winterton’s Law Firm represented the curator and executor Mr Kenias Mutyasira.

The lawyers mounted several contestations despite the High Court ordering the estate to pay Mr Kenias Mutyasira his fees amounting at US$160 000.

The judge took that as a calculated and deliberate attempt to abuse the court process in a bid to evade the estate’s legal obligations to the Mr Mutyasira.

Mr Kenias Mutyasira, who was appointed as executor and curator to the estate of the late Mr Muchineripi Gonyora and the High Court ordered that he should be paid US$160 000 for the services. Justice Mawadze took a swipe at Mr Kanengoni for failing to properly advise his client.

“The conduct of the applicant’s legal practitioner cannot escape censure in all these proceedings. I do not believe applicant’s legal practitioner in all these endeavours was exercising his or her duty as an officer of the court and motivated solely by the administration of justice.

“The impression created is that of a legal practitioner now pursuing the client’s (applicant’s) perceived rights at all costs. “The applicant’s legal practitioner in these circumstances had a duty to properly advise the applicant. As a result of the failure, a lot of the court’s time and resources were wasted as this court has been burdened with the same issue of the amount due to the first respondent under the guise of several court actions or applications,” said Justice Mawadze.

The court also ordered Ms Gonyora to pay costs from her own pocket as well considering that the frivolous legal battles she raised through her lawyer, were not meant to benefit the estate.

Justice Mawadze found that the battles were more of a misplaced zeal by Ms Gonyora’s legal practitioner and that the two should bear the legal costs as a form of punishment.

Facts of the matter are that Ms Gonyora married the late Mr Gonyora in 1976 in terms of the African Marriages Act.
Mr Gonyora died on August 13, 2002 in Harare and is survived by wife (Ms Gonyora) and six children.

The estate was registered and Mr Mutyasira was appointed curator in 2002.
On October 7, 2005 Mr Mutyasira was also appointed executor dative of the same estate. Legal battles started with the family successfully applying for the nullification of Mr Mutyasira’s appointment as executor.

That is when Mr Mutyasira claimed his fees and the court allowed his application.
Several contestations were raised pertaining to the figure due to Mr Mutyasira as well as the currency as the work was done during the Zimbabwe dollar era.

The High Court ruled that Mr Mutyasira should get paid in United States dollars and taxation was done resulting in the man being awarded $160 000.

Several tactics were employed by Ms Gonyora in a bid to evade paying the outstanding money to Mr Mutyasira.

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