Energy Mutodi car auctioned over debt
HARARE – Flamboyant businessman-cum-musician Energy Mutodi saw one of his cars go under the hammer at Ruby’s Auctions in Harare over the weekend.
A Nissan Elgrand (registration number ACA3716) belonging to the singer’s National Housing Development Trust was sold for US$3 450 to settle a debt between the land developing company and Precious Mukucha.
Efforts to get comment from Mutodi were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered. The musician early this month said he had failed to get land from several local authorities.
“It is also important that I mention the fact that Zim-Trust has been duped by some land owners especially co-operatives, most of them led by former freedom fighters.
“The organisation has been robbed in excess of US$1 million by bogus land owners who collected deposits from us only to change their demands after receiving the money.
“Some of them have been ordered by the courts to reimburse us but they have failed to do so,” he was quoted as saying.
Mutodi said his organisation had no contractual obligations to refund customers but to deliver them land.
“Stand prices are going up primarily as a result of the rising cost of land. It is those customers who have found the going tough who are now demanding refunds. Unfortunately, our rules and regulations do not permit refunds to clients who are in default.”
Early this month, civil servants besieged his office at NSSA House forcing the musician to close the company doors. The former geography teacher-cum-businessman operates Zimbabwe Housing Trust, a property development company.
Mutodi has since denied any criminal wrong-doing. Some of his customers reported him to the Commercial Crime Unit. Zim-Trust was reported to have been selling 250 residential stands in Tynwald South but only 43 customers were allocated their stands.
In December 2011, Mutodi launched the National Association of Housing Finance Organisation, an organisation that was meant to regulate the operations of housing development trusts and protect home seekers. It targeted to develop at least 50 000 housing units in the next five years.
