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Nyore Madzianike Senior Court Reporter
A BUSINESSMAN has approached the High Court seeking a reversal of the decision by Kwekwe Town Clerk Lucia Mkandhla to terminate a lease agreement for his car sale in May last year.
There was no council resolution to effect the lease cancellation, the businessman insists.
Mr Sakhile Mbano, who was running Koncern Car Sale at Stand 1493 Third Street in Kwekwe since 2011, also wants the decision to be reversed on the basis that the town clerk decided to dispose of the stand without giving him first preference as the sitting tenant.
The stand was sold to Slice Distributors, which runs fast food outlets around the country.
Mbano said the termination of his lease and sale of the land to Slice Distributors amounts to criminal abuse of office by Ms Mkandhla. Mkandhla, City of Kwekwe and Slice Distributors (Pvt) Limited were cited as respondents in the matter.
“I am advised that the sale is not supported by a resolution of the council. Any disposal of land by the council must be supported by a resolution. In its absence, the sale is a nullity.”
Mr Mbano, in his application, said the decision to sell the land was unfair and violated the Administrative Justice Act. He had brought the case to court since the attempts to resolve the dispute amicably had failed.
Mr Mbano said he entered the lease in November 2011 and was constantly renewing it since then, the last annual renewal on January 19 last year, a few months before the lease was terminated. City of Kwekwe wanted to sell the stand to facilitate city development but he was not given the opportunity to buy as the sitting tenant, although he once offered to buy it, something Ms Mkandhla said she knew nothing about.
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