Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa (photo:M. Chibaya).

Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa (photo:M. Chibaya).

 United Family International Church Ministries has taken Trust Bank to court claiming US$216 000 the church deposited into its account with the bank since last year. 

The church claims it deposited the money into the account and instructed the bank to transfer the money into other accounts and it failed to do so.United Family International Church Ministries has taken Trust Bank to court claiming US$216 000 the church deposited into its account with the bank since last year.

It is the church’s argument that Trust Bank did not follow its instructions and that the financial institution, on several occasions, has failed to avail the money in question on demand.

To that end, UFIC has sought the High Court’s intervention through issuance of summons. The church’s lawyers, Mushangwe and Company, filed the lawsuit at the High Court last week. UFIC holds an account with Trust Bank and a banker-client relationship exists between the two parties.

In terms of the relationship, the church argues, the bank owes it the duty to act in utmost good faith. Further, according to the church, Trust Bank has a duty to ensure the church’s funds are available upon demand.

It is the church’s claim that on November 29 last year it instructed the bank to transfer US$461 150 from its account into Tetrad account number 15000148 Arundel. From November 29, the bank has only transferred US$280 000 through several transactions without explaining why it failed to make a single transfer. The bank left a balance of US$181 150.

On April 24 this year, UFIC further instructed the bank to transfer a total of US$35 647 in respect of the employees’ salaries and nothing was done.

“Having failed to carry out specific instructions given, plaintiff now claims that it be paid the outstanding amount of US$216 797. To date, defendant has failed to pay despite numerous demands by the plaintiff,” read the plaintiff’s declaration.

The church wants the money back with interest calculated at the rate of five percent per annum from the date of demand to the date of payment in full. Trust Bank is yet to respond to the claim.

Its founder Emmanuel Makandiwa is not a stranger at all when it comes to suing companies. In December last year the wealthy man of God sued Daily News for a whooping US$2 million – though he later withdrew the case from the courts. According to Daily News, Makandiwa only withdrew the lawsuit from the High Court upon realising that he was never going to win the case.

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