RABECCA BANDA writes
THE Chilenje Local Court has ordered a Lusaka man to pay K3,500 balance he is owing a creditor.
Alick Chitabu, 40, a farmer of Bauleni Township was sued by Kebby Sichone, 40, a businessman of Linda Township.
Sichone said he sold his vehicle to Chitabu in 2018 at K22,000.
He said Chitabu paid K18,500 and since then they have been having disputes over the balance.
“He hasn’t paid the remaining K3,500 he is owing me. I tried looking for him and discovered that he had shifted from the house he was staying in. I burned fuel searching for him until I found him,” Sichone said.
“He took the car the day he paid part of the money. I want him to pay the balance of K 3,500 he is owing me. He has delayed me because the money has over stayed,” he said.
The two were appearing before senior local magistrate Ackim Phiri sitting with presiding local court magistrate Patrick Nyirenda.
Chitabu said he had not been hiding because he lived at the farm most of the time.
Chitabu said he wanted to pay the money on time but his business transactions did not go well.
“I got delayed because the person whom I wanted to do business with backed out at the last minute. It was Sichone who disturbed things because he said bad things to my potential business partner,” Chitabu said.
“Because of that I had no source of money because the business transaction failed. I planned to pay him when I sell some of my farm produce. I explained to him that it will take me some time to find the money. Even if he is claiming his money now, he hasn’t changed the ownership of the car to my name,” he said.
“The car is currently parked at my house because I fear having problems in case I am caught by the police. I had asked him to change the ownership when I made the first payment but he hasn’t,” Chitabu said.
“I want him to tell me when he is going to change the ownership so that I can be satisfied that the car is mine. I have not refused to pay the remaining balance,” he said.
The court ordered Chitabu to pay K3,500 he was owing.
