The High Court of Zimbabwe has ruled that laws used to convert US dollar balances into Zimbabwean dollars were unconstitutional to the extent that they violated property rights.
In a ruling delivered on 15 February 2023, High Court judge Justice Joseph Mafusire ordered CABS to pay the money to applicants in US dollars and not Zimbabwe dollars.
In a post on Twitter, Tendai Biti Law said the High Court ordered the bank to pay local businessman Richard Harold Stuart Beattie and his wife Penelope Douglas Stone US$142 000 that had been unlawfully converted to RTGS dollars. It said:
In 2019 the Gvt of Zimbabwe caused chaos & severe economic loss to millions of Zimbabweans when it demonetised the US dollar & introduced the valueless Zim$.
We are pleased to announce that the High Court has declared unconstitutional the appropriation of US$ savings in our own case
Since 2019 we have acted for Richard Beattie & Penny Stone in their action to recover US$142000 unlawfully converted by a bank.
We are proud and privileged to have won yet another landmark. We are grateful to Advocate [Tererai Mafukidze] who argued the case on our behalf. We are truly, truly humbled.