From US$100K To Less Than US$4K: High Court Rules That Chombo’s USD100 000 Debt Now Converted To ZiG

US$100,000 Becomes US$3,883: How SI 33 Just Changed Everything For Debtors

The High Court has declared that a whopping US$100 000 (approximately R1.9 million) debt owed to top city law firm Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners has been converted to ZW$100 000, meaning Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Marian Chombo can now legally settle it using less than US$4 000 (approximately R76 000).

The bombshell decision hands the provincial minister a staggering financial lifeline after High Court judge Justice Mambara ruled that her decade-old debt to Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners must be paid in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) under the provisions of Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019. The ruling slashes the eye-watering US$100 000 bill from September 2, 2014, to just ZW$100 000—worth a paltry US$3 883 (approximately R73 000) at today’s official exchange rate of 25.7531.

Justice Mambara Lays Down The Law

The matter returned to the High Court following a directive from the Supreme Court, which ordered the lower court to determine once and for all how the country’s monetary laws affect the long-standing debt.

Justice Mambara was crystal clear about the narrow scope of his task. He stated:

“This court must give effect to the directions of the appellate court and determine the remitted issue only.”

The judge ruled that the critical cut-off date was February 22, 2019—the day Statutory Instrument 33 of 19 came into force. The court found that the US$100 000 debt was very much alive and unpaid on that date.

Lawyers for Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners fought desperately to keep the debt denominated in United States dollars. They pointed to a US$2 360 (approximately R45 000) payment made by Minister Chombo as recently as 2024 as evidence that both parties continued to treat the obligation as a foreign currency debt.

But the judge was having none of it.

Operation Of Law Trumps Private Agreements

Justice Mambara explained that the conversion was not a matter of choice or negotiation between the parties. It was automatic. It was immediate. It was the law.

He elaborated:

“The application of SI 33/19 to a qualifying liability is by operation of law. Once the statutory conditions are met, the deeming follows.”

The court meticulously examined whether there had been any new agreement—any novation—that might have breathed fresh life into the debt as a US dollar obligation after 2019. The answer was a resounding no.

Justice Mambara poured cold water on the argument that the 2024 payment proved the debt had somehow escaped the local currency trap. He noted that the critical question was the state of the liability at the exact moment the statutory instrument kicked in, not what happened years later.

He ruled decisively:

“The question remains whether the liability existed and was valued in US dollars immediately before February 22, 2019.”

The result is nothing short of a financial miracle for the Minister. The US$100 000 debt is now, in the eyes of the law, a ZW$100 000 debt. Using the official Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe exchange rate of 25.7531 as of Thursday, March 5, 2026, that works out to a payment of precisely US$3 883.03 (approximately R73 000).

The US$2 360 paid in 2024 will now be converted into Zimbabwe dollars at the statutory rate and knocked off the bill as a credit.

Minister Chombo, who was represented in the matter by Mr Jonasi Dondo, has been ordered by the court to pay the balance in local currency, plus interest dating back to when the summons was first issued. She was also ordered to pay the costs of the case.