OVER 250 beneficiaries of the Enos Nkala Housing Co-operative in Retreat, Waterfalls in Harare fear losing their housing stands and land to a school after the widow of the late chairperson Levison Chikafu, allegedly connived with one Golden Chihuri to develop the land despite having a pending case at the Registrar of Co-operatives.
Trouble started after the co-operative members got wind that the late Chikafu, who died in 2019, had sold the land to Chihuri in breach of the co-operative’s land use objectives.
The 281 co-operative members allege that they have been in and out of court as the widow of the late chairperson Agatha Chikafu took them to court twice before withdrawing in both instances, opting for an out-of-court settlement. The out-of-court settlement has still not materialised.
The Enos Nkala co-oporative members now accuse Chikafu of disregarding her request for an out-of-court settlement by bringing land surveyors to the contested site.
“We know that the case is at the Registrar of Co-operatives but it is surprising that Agatha Chikafu is now coming to the site with land surveyors in the company of Chihuri. We know that the late chairperson sold the land to Chihuri without the knowledge of the co-operative and seeing him in the company of (Agatha) Chikafu at the site makes us uncomfortable.
“Mrs Chikafu has also included her eight children in the membership to gain support from the registrar. We now fear that if this case takes longer, she might eventually succeed in selling the land, and in the process deprive the rightful beneficiaries,” Wilson Kajama, the co-operative’s chairperson, told NewsDay.
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Golden Chihuri told NewsDay that he bought the land from the late Chikafu, adding that he was duped into believing that the co-operative members had surrendered their right to it.
“However, the truth only came to light when I met Kajama at the Registrar of Co-operatives. I was then told that the members had not surrendered their rights. For now, we are in the process of amending that as I intend to meet the co-operative members to seal the case,” Chihuri said.
But Chikafu said all the 281 members involved in the dispute had breached the co-operative constitution.
“Kajama and associates have no right to claim anything from the Enos Nkala Co-operative because they breached the co-operative constitution. They deserted the co-operative until my late husband decided to partner with Chihuri to have the land retained. The constitution stipulates that whoever leaves the cooperative for three consecutive months ceases to be a member, and that is what they did. Whatever information they are spreading is false,” Chikafu said.