A land dispute between a Chinamhora villager and Chinamhora Secondary School has spilled into the courts after the latter allegedly seized the villager’s field and turned it into a football pitch.Report by Charles Laiton, Senior Court Reporter
Amos Optel (75) of Chavhengera village last week appeared before Harare magistrate Milton Serima seeking intervention of the courts to bar the school from interfering with his homestead and stop further construction at his homestead.
In his application — Optel — who is represented by Kennedy Masiye — accused the school of destroying his maize fields and orchard to construct classroom blocks. Optel further said he was never consulted over the developments. He said had he been contacted, he would not have refused to move if he were offered somewhere else to settle.
He said since his homestead was regularised by Goromonzi Rural District Council in 1992, he had made several developments such as building a six-roomed house, a borehole and an orchard.
Under cross-examination by the school headmaster Vengesai Matabvu, Optel accused Matabvu of sending pupils to remove his security wire. However, Matabvu told the court that whatever the school did at Optel’s homestead was done after consulting his son Kevin, an assertion that was dismissed by the villager.
The matter was postponed to October 17 for continuation where the school is expected to call witnesses to support its case.
