BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO
A LOCAL businessman has dragged the Chitungwiza Municipality to court over a housing stand that a councillor claims he owns.
Tendai Edwin Nyekete sought an interdict barring ward 3 councillor John Matienga from interfering with construction on a stand in Manyame measuring 2 000m2.
Chitungwiza Municipality was cited as the second respondent in the case.
In court papers, Nyekete said he bought the stand (number 7482) together with Edeline Tariro Musendo in 2012 for US$12 000 from Rumbidzai Chikwene.
In an application made through his lawyer Job Sikhala, Nyekete alleged that Matienga claims ownership of the stand.
“Matienga has been interfering with the development of a structure on the said residential stand claiming that the said stand belongs to him,” he said.
“On some occasions, Matienga would come in the middle of the night to destroy the developed structure on the site of my residential stand and would tell me that I can go and report anywhere and nothing will happen to him as he is a powerful politician.”
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But in an opposing affidavit, Chitungwiza council’s acting chamber secretary Raymond Wenyeve said Nyekete was occupying a wrong stand.
Wenyeve said: “Furthermore, the applicant’s agreement of sale with Chikwene is unlawful because undeveloped land must not be sold by the person, who was initially offered the stand without developing the land and agreement was not ratified by the second respondent as the custodian of state land in its area of jurisdiction.”
In a ruling delivered on Friday, Chitungwiza magistrate Gladys Moyo instructed the council to show Nyekete his rightful stand.
“The three of you are going to sit down. Go and identify the correct stand,” she said.
“There are issues of the law and others are not. Instead of coming here, you can sit down as normal people and point to the proper stand.”
Chitungwiza Municipality last month launched a verification exercise for all stands allocated from January 2019 to date as part of updating its property database.
The municipality had previously threatened to demolish thousands of illegal structures in the town following revelations that some of the structures were built either on wetlands or land earmarked for recreational facilities.
