NIRI v COLEMAN & ORS 2002 (2) ZLR 580 (H)

2002 (2) ZLR p580

Flynote

Interest — rate of — stipulated rate of interest in excess of rate laid down in Moneylending and Rates of Interest Act [Chapter 14:14] —does not render acknowledgment of debt void for illegality and unenforceable — lender not disentitled from recovering his money at rate of interest permitted by the Act

Interest — rate o f — rate laid down in Moneylending and Rates of Interest Act [Chapter 14:14] — not same as rate under Prescribed Rate of Interest Act [Chapter 8:10] — how rate to be ascertained

Loan —acknowledgment of debt — rate of interest stipulated contravening Moneylending and Rates of Interest Act [Chapter 14:14] — whether loan recoverable

Practice and procedure —judgment — summary judgment — defence to — onus on defendant to show good bona fide defence — what is — need to establish legal defence, not a moral one — not sufficient to show that, for reasons beyond defendant's control, he was unable to pay the debt