Dionne Kanyowa
FAITH Ministries Church has won a long standing land battle with an occupier who claimed to be its rightful owner after it was allocated to her as a residential stand by a housing cooperative.
Justice Never Katiyo presided over the land dispute and ruled in favour of the church after finding that one F Nhau together with Joseph Msika Housing cooperative had failed to prove ownership.
“Furthermore, there is no specific land which the two respondents can clearly demonstrate to this court as the land they were allocated. This is a clear case of self-help by the two respondents in total disregard of the law. In my view, the applicant has clearly demonstrated that he is entitled to occupy the said property to the exclusion of any other party,” Katoyo ruled.
Nhau was ordered to vacate and remove any buildings from the Hatcliffe stand in Harare within seven days from March 18 when the judgment was delivered by Katiyo.
The circumstances around the case are that on April 15 in 2019, the church entered into a lease agreement with the Housing ministry where it was allocated the land as a church stand.
In 2020, Nhau took possession of the stand indicating it had been allocated to her as a residential stand by the housing cooperative, to which she was a member.
Nhau went as far as erecting structures on the land without the church’s consent.
Upon discovering this, the church made efforts to try and reclaim the land, but it proved futile prompting them to seek relief from the courts.
In its response, the housing cooperative claimed to have been allocated the same land by the Housing ministry in 2012 after it had submitted its application for State-land.