Family house sold for a song

Luthando Mapepa
Chipinge Correspondent

A CHIREDZI-BASED man is at loggerheads with his three children as he showed up after a decade of absence to sell the family’s Chipinge house for US$8 500.

Jonathan Mucheto’s move will soon leave his three teenage children — Panashe, Nyasha and Gerald — homeless as they were recently served with an eviction notice to vacate their Gaza home.

One of the Mucheto siblings is disabled.

Mucheto is said to have deserted the family for close to a decade, only to resurface last year following the death of his former wife — the mother of the three children.

When contacted for comment, Mucheto said he sold the house so settle a debt with his late ex-wife’s family.

“The house was mine and l had every right to sell it. I sold it so that I could pay the money I owed my in-laws. I know where I will accommodate my children when the new owner of the house moves in,”he said.

However, the three siblings argued that their father could have at least informed them about his intention to sell the property before doing so.

The trio said they were surprised to stumble upon the house’s agreement of sale in their father’s satchel.

Said Nyasha: “Our mother died last year. She was the one who developed the stand since our father had relocated to Chiredzi after their separation. The stand was bought by the two during the course of their marriage, but it was registered in our father’s name.

“After our mother’s death last year, our father showed keen interest on the property. He told us that he wanted to sell the house so that we could rent a bigger house that could accommodate the four of us.

“Since his relocation to Chiredzi, he had completely turned his back on us. I have been taking care of my siblings ever since the death of our mother last year.

“We don’t know how we can fight for this house as it was built by our mother when our father had long abandoned us. Our late mother’s estate is yet to be registered, but our father has already sold the house,” said Nyasha.

The agreement of sale which The Manica Post managed to see reads: “The cession of the house is the sum of US$8 500 payable as follows: A deposit of US$4 200 is payable on the signing of the agreement. The balance of US$4 300 is payable in instalments.”