DEDA 1, JESI 0 AS COURT BATTLE RUMBLES ON

Curtworth Masango

Zimpapers Sports Hub

THE Mutare Magistrates Court has dismissed an application by former Warriors midfielder Last Jesi challenging its territorial jurisdiction to hear a US$50,000 claim by football agent George Deda.

Magistrate Purity Gumbo ruled on Monday that Jesi failed to establish that he was not resident within Manicaland when summons were issued in December 2023.

The court found that the defendant’s claims that he had never stayed at his house in Mutare remained disputed and was not backed by sufficient evidence.

“The defendant’s case assumes that if his principal home was elsewhere, Mutare could not also constitute a residence. That does not follow,” Magistrate Gumbo said in her ruling.

Deda, a football agent who facilitated Jesi’s move to Sudanese giants Al-Hilal in 2020, is claiming outstanding agency fees together with a 10 percent collection commission.

Advocate Wilbert Mandinde appeared for Jesi while former Dynamos secretary Brian Kashangura represented Deda.

The case has a complex procedural history.

Default judgment was initially entered after Jesi failed to enter an appearance to defend himself

He later sought assistance and ultimately succeeded on appeal to the High Court before filing the present special plea.

Jesi had argued that the Mutare Magistrates Court lacked jurisdiction because he had never resided in Mutare and the football transaction was substantially performed outside Zimbabwe.

He maintained that the Hobhouse property, where summons were served, belonged to him but was occupied by his mother.

Deda opposed the plea.

He argued that Number 1775 Hobhouse was Jesi’s last known address and that the property served as the place where the player would return from Sudan.

Magistrate Gumbo noted that the residence enquiry is factual and must consider the circumstances existing when proceedings were instituted.