On 23rd May, 1999 the late Said Hussein Kulyohi
attended a public auction, in which the landed property known as Plot No. 89
Block “K” Chikongola, Mtwara was on sale. The house belonged to one Mussa
Athumani. It was being auctioned on the instructions of the defendant,
presumably following default on the repayment of a loan involving one Mussa
Athumani. The late Said Kulyohi was the successful bidder. He bought it at a price
of Tshs. 4,400,000/=.
However, in the same year, Mussa Athumani’s children
challenged the sale. They filed Civil Case No. 7 of 1999 at Mtwara District
Court. The suit was against the Bank, but Said Kulyohi was joined as a
co-defendant. In a judgment delivered on 29th December, 2010, the
District Court nullified the sale and ordered all documents pertaining to the
property to be returned to the plaintiffs.
The bank’s appeal in this court was dismissed on 13th
September, 2013. Seeing that he now had lost the money and had no property, the
late Said Kulyohi, through Derost Attorneys, Advocates, sent a notice of demand
and intention to sue to the Bank. The bank did not heed, compelling the
plaintiffs to file this suit. Besides resisting the merits of the claim, the
defendant, just before the commencement of trial, raised an objection to the
pecuniary jurisdiction of this court.