ST BERNARD Anglican Church in Mashonaland West province has taken Sanyati Rural District Council to court demanding $13 000 compensation after it was forced to demolish its old structure and relocate to a new site.
BY SILAS NKALA
In summons filed at the High Court in Bulawayo on June 6 this year, the church submitted it was entitled to be allocated another piece of land under the Wozhele Housing Project for free.
“On or about 2007, the defendant (Sanyati RDC) resolved that all church activities were to be cancelled and the plaintiff (church) should relocate to a new site awaiting allocation of a new stand at the Wozhele Housing Development Project,” the summons read.
“Following the relocation, the church was demolished and they (congregants) moved to a new site at Wozhele Housing Project awaiting an allocation of a new stand. Wozhele Housing Project is now complete, but the defendant is now demanding a full purchase price in order to allocate a church stand to the plaintiff.”
The church submitted that, alternatively, it seeks an order that the local authority pay $13 000 in damages, interest of 5% per annum from the date of summons to the date of payment in full.
In its declaration of the claim, the church submitted that it owned the stand, from where it was displaced under Chief Wozhele in the council’s jurisdiction, since 1957.
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The church submitted that despite demand, the defendant has refused or failed and or neglected to allocate plaintiff a church stand. Sanyati RDC is yet to respond to the summons.
