Lusaka-based Topstar Communications Company Limited is facing legal action after a resident, Precious Lubinda, took the company to court following her eviction from a house she won in a promotional campaign.
Lubinda has filed a lawsuit in the Lusaka High Court, seeking an order for specific performance, or alternatively, financial compensation equivalent to the value of the house.
She is also claiming damages for breach of contract, negligence, interest on any sums awarded, and legal costs.
Topstar Communications, a registered company in Zambia that provides paid television services, launched the “House Money Car 2017 Christmas Promotion” between November 15, 2017, and December 31, 2017.
As part of the promotion, customers who subscribed to the company’s services for a minimum of three months were eligible to win prizes, including a two-bedroom house.
Lubinda participated in the promotion by subscribing for the required period. In March 2018, she was declared the winner of a two-bedroom house and was formally handed possession of a property identified as House No. 1001 in North Gate Gardens, off Kasangula Road in Lusaka.
However, on July 11, 2022, Lubinda was evicted by court-certified bailiffs and discovered that Topstar Communications did not legally own the property when it was awarded to her.
The company later admitted that the house was subject to a 2018 court ruling declaring it the legal property of First Capital Bank Zambia Limited.
Topstar Communications claimed that it had engaged a third-party marketing agency to run the promotion and had entered into an agreement with another company, from which it believed it had purchased the house.
It was later revealed that the property was mortgaged to First Capital Bank at the time.
Lubinda argued that Topstar Communications misrepresented itself and was negligent in failing to ensure that the prize house was free of legal encumbrances before awarding it.
She asserted that the company’s failure to transfer lawful ownership of the house had resulted in her suffering loss of use and benefit since her eviction.
