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Christopher Chigumba

Lovemore Meya Court Correspondent
Chitungwiza South legislator and businessman Christopher Chigumba’s application for an interdict against Zanoremba Housing Co-operative Society Limited and its members was yesterday dismissed. Chigumba owns Chigumba Property Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and Zanoremba Housing Company (Pvt) Ltd.

The magistrate Ms Jessy Kufa dismissed the application on the grounds that it lacked merit on substantiating his claims that he owned the land in question. Ms Kufa said the requirements of an interdict should establish a clear right, which Chigumba and his two companies totally failed to show.

Ms Kufa further said Chigumba, as an applicant, failed to place anything before the court for his claims. Instead, those he cited as respondents managed to produce evidence that satisfied the court that they actually have entitlement to the land. Because there was proof that Za- noremba Housing Co-operative Society Limited was a legally registered co-operative, in terms of the Co-operatives Societies Act, Ms Kufa said the dispute should have been referred to the Registrar of Co-operatives, not the magistrates’ court.

Chigumba, through his lawyers Koto and Company, had approached Chitungwiza Civil Court applying for an interim interdict against the co-operative, its chairperson Kalisto Masango and nine other members pending the finalisation of the case number HC2281/15 before the High Court. Chigumba went to the High Court seeking to block the same co-operative and eight members from allocating stands on a piece of land he claims belongs to him.

In his application at Chitungwiza Civil Court, Zanoremba Housing Co-operative Society Limited was cited as the first respondent. The co-operative and its members were represented by Mr Albert Nyikadzino of Nyikadzino, Simango and Associates. Chigumba owns Chigumba Property Holdings Private Limited, which is cited as first applicant, and Zanoremba Housing Company (Pvt) Limited as second respondent in his application.

Chigumba said he was responsible for the payments for the land and the problem was that the respondents on August 6 and 7 started allocating stands to unsuspecting members of the public as well as to themselves. However, in their notice of opposition, through Mr Nyikadzino the co-operative members argued that the parties in the case referred case to pending at the High Court are different from those in this matter.

They said in 2004 the members approached Chigumba by virtue of being a businessman and politician and made him the patron of the co-operative. The co-operators said they agreed to name it Zanoremba Housing Co-operative while Chigumba personalised the land and registered it in the name of his company.