An elite private hospital, St Anne’s, has shut its doors to the public after it was evicted from its rented building following the termination of its lease in 2014.
by XOLISANI NCUBE
However, hospital officials claimed the shutdown was meant to allow for routine maintenance of the property.
Fred Mtandah, managing director of Caps Holdings — who are the owners of St Anne’s Hospital — told NewsDay on Tuesday that the health institution had closed its doors for renovations.
“We have a new investor, who has come in and is the one who is carrying out the renovations. This has nothing to do with what is being said. It is purely renovation and we will re-open in due course,” Mtandah said.
Workers at the institutions told this paper that they were sent home for three months pending the re-opening of the hospital. Lawyers representing property owner, Little Company of Mary (LCM), served the health institution with an eviction order in January this year.
LCM lawyers Hove and Associates, in a letter dated January 29, 2016, advised the Association of Health Care Funders of Zimbabwe that it was evicting St Anne’s Hospital and claiming all right of occupancy to the hospital in seven days.
“On the March 11, 2014, Little Company of Mary instituted legal proceedings against St Anne’s Hospital Limited out of the High Court of Zimbabwe. On December 23, 2015, we secured judgment against them to evict them and anyone claiming the right to occupy the premises through them from the land.
“Accordingly, as an interested party, we hereby inform you of this development to avoid any inconveniences to your members and their subscribers,” a letter signed by Regai Hove, the LCM lawyers, read.
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The High Court also ordered the hospital to pay holding-over damages at the rate of $45 000 per month from February 26, 2014, being the date of cancellation of the lease agreement, to the date that the health institution vacates the premises.
St Anne’s was initially part of LCM’s investments before it was sold to Caps Holdings in 2004.
Initially, the hospital had a 15-year lease agreement with LCM signed in 2004 and but it was cancelled two years ago, although Mtandah claimed the lease was subject to further renewal by another five years.
However, LCM would have none of that, insisting they had other plans for the building.
