DISTRIBUTED BY VERITAS TRUST Tel: [263] [4] 794478 Fax & Messages [263] [4] 793592 E-mail: veritas@mango.zw Veritas makes every effort to ensure the provision of reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied. Judgment No. SC 33/18 Civil Appeal No. SC 780/17 The second respondent argues that the findings of the court a quo were on issues of fact and that the appellants have not challenged those findings as being grossly unreasonable. It further argues that the letter from Mbada Mine to the Sheriff relied upon by the appellants was unsigned and was therefore not authentic. It is also the second respondent’s submission that the letter from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) to Mbada Mine, concerning the suspension of duty on the importation of the assets, implied that it was Mbada Mine that was the owner of the assets. This was because there was a clause in the letter stipulating that the assets were not to be sold. The question that this Court has to decide is whether the appellants have successfully discharged the onus of proving that they are the owners of the assets concerned. To answer this question, it is necessary to determine whether the reliance by the court below on importation documents to prove ownership was competent and whether the agreements showing the appellants’ ownership of the assets were genuine. Whether Importer must be the Owner I take the view that the court a quo’s reliance on importation documents to determine the issue of ownership was flawed and incorrect. This is so because the Customs and Excise Act [Chapter 23:02] makes it clear that a person who is not the owner can be an importer of goods. Section 2 of that Act states that an importer: 6