Source: Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
The decision by the Harare City Council to unleash debt collectors on defaulters has caused a lot of anxiety among residents who are living in fear of losing their property following threats by Wellcash Debt Collectors.
Wellcash Debt Collectors have also issued threats of court action to residents who owe the Harare City Council.
The action by Wellcash Debt Collectors is very much illegal as there is no Act of Parliament in Zimbabwe which empowers debt collectors to issue threats or attach property on behalf of creditors.
Moved by the illegal actions of Wellcash Debt Collectors, the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) held a series of community meetings in Harare to educate residents on the illegality of the operations of Wellcash Debt Collectors who are charging an extra 10 percent of what residents owe to council.
During the meetings, CHRA urged residents to ignore the threats from Wellcash Debt Collectors and pay their debts to council directly and on January 8, 2017, the Harare City Council reinforced our message and urged residents to pay directly to council.
Company records seen by CHRA at the Registrar of Companies indicate that Wellcash Debt Collectors was registered as a private company in 2000 with its directors mentioned as Cashington Mavunduke of Borrowdale and Eunice Mavunduke of Mufakose.
The company file also shows that in 2015, Eunice Mavunduke resigned as the Director of the company and was replaced by one Junior Mavunduke of Borrowdale.
What raises questions about the operations of Wellcash Debt Collectors is the fact that the company last submitted its annual report in 2014 and up to now, their file is not up to date at the Registrar of Companies.
CHRA would like to reiterate its commitment to fight for the rights of residents and prevent all forms of extortion as is the case with the operations of Wellcash Debt collectors.
We urge residents to pay their bills directly to the Harare City Council.
Source: Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)