Dar woman sues Akiba Commercial Bank over loss of title deed, demands Sh335m for compensation
Title deeds verify land ownership. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The plaintiff claims she faithfully repaid the loan in advance of the expiration of the payment schedule.
Dar es Salaam. A Dar es Salaam businesswoman has taken Akiba Commercial Bank Plc to court over the loss of her certificate of title, which she used to secure a Sh30 million loan from the bank.
In a case she filed in the High Court in Dar es Salaam, Ms Aisha Abubakar Hassan is asking the court to order the bank to pay her Sh335 million in compensation for loss of business opportunities and release her title deed.
It all started in November 2021 when Aisha decided to expand her business, which involves the importation of cosmetics from the United Kingdom, Turkey and the United States. She applied for and was duly granted a Sh30 million loan by Akiba Commercial Bank PLC using, among other securities, a certificate of title for her house located in Tegeta and a motor vehicle. The plaintiff claims she faithfully repaid the loan in advance of the expiration of the payment schedule.
Aisha already had won a customer who had committed himself to buy the house at Sh250 million immediately after the loan had been discharged and the certificate of title released to her.
That, however, never happened. Aisha claims the bank has failed to release the title deed todate even after she served the bank a notice of intention to sue over the delay.
She claimed after months of dilly dallying the bank finally informed her the tittle deed had gone missing in their files.
According to a letter signed by the bank’s loans manager, Charles Kamoto and the bank’s lawyer, Niwaeli Mziray the bank replied that they have asked for photocopies of the title from land registry office.
The businesswoman has sought orders for repayment of Sh250 million, being compensation arising out of loss of business opportunities caused by the failure of the bank to timely release the certificate of tittle to enable her to sell the property.
She also wants the court to order immediate release of the certificate of title and payment of general damaged to be assessed by the court for the loss committed by the bank in unlawfully hoding onto the tittle.
The case which is presided over by Judge Obadia Bwegoge is scheduled for mention on March 23, 2013
