Lusambo says he had oral agreement with
Zamtel to deduct rentals from cost of repairs
By Mwaka Ndawa
FORMER Kabushi PF member of parliament Bowman Lusambo claims that he had an oral agreement with ZAMTEL chief executive officer Dr Mupanga Mwanakatwe to use his own money and refurbish the dilapidated house which was rented to him by the telecommunications company, on a condition that the same would be deductible from the monthly rentals.
Lusambo is reclaiming K2,050,327.80 from ZAMTEL which he spent on repairing the house.
This is in a matter where Zamtel sued Lusambo for non-payment of rentals amounting to K590,000.
Zamtel charged that Lusambo has been a problematic tenant as he has neglected to pay rentals after it refused to pay him K2 million for the cost of repairs which he made to the house without its approval.
In an affidavit in opposition to an affidavit in support of originating notice of motion, Lusambo said he entered into a lease agreement with Zamtel for house no. 68 Kabelenga Road, Ndola on April 24, 2017 which was signed after he had already effected renovation works on the property.
Lusambo said he took possession of the property between August 2016 and October 2016 and at the time of taking possession, the house was in a deplorable state as it was deserted for a very long time.
He said based on the oral agreement which he had with Dr Mwanakatwe he proceeded to rehabilitate the house and the works were concluded between December 2016 and January 2018 and he moved into the house in January 2018.
“It was only after I had completed the renovation of premises that ZAMTEL proposed that we execute a lease agreement and the said lease agreement was only executed on April 24, 2017,” he said.
“The renovation I effected on the property amounted to K2,050,327.80 and that on December 17, 2017 and January 29, 2018 I did communicate to ZAMTEL via letter correspondence where I demanded that they settle the K2,05,0,327.80 or alternatively, offer to sell to me the said property.”
Lusambo said Zamtel rejected his demands for payment of the sums due to him and the request to purchase the property in a letter dated January 13, 2018.
“The applicant in rejecting my proposal drew my attention to provisions of the lease agreement which provided that as a tenant, I could not effect any renovation to the premises without prior consent from the landlord, being the applicant herein,” Lusambo said. “Zamtel resorted to rely on the lease agreement which had been executed after renovation works had commenced and concluded following my initial oral discussions and understanding with them.
He said efforts to resolve the dispute which had ensued proved futile as Zamtel was determined to negate its earlier position to allow him to renovate the property and instead maintained that the lease agreement which came much later should be a guiding document despite the fact that he had already effected substantial renovations to the property.
Lusambo said he is entitled to a refund of all funds spent on repair and Zamtel is stopped from forgoing its earlier agreement and that if allowed to do so it would amount to unjust enrichment on its part.
He said he uplifted the property as the same is what was agreed upon with Zamtel and the clause which it now seeks to rely on was introduced after renovation works had been concluded.
“The agreement I had with Zamtel was that the cost of renovation effected by myself would offset any accrued rental arrears,” said Lusambo.
Mast