Sundaymail Editor
Sports Reporter
BOXING champion Charles Manyuchi says he remains focused on defending his titles despite controversies surrounding ownership of a piece of land in Chivhu, which he was offered by Chikomba Rural District Council in 2016.
He is set to defend his World Boxing Federation (WBF) and World Alliance Boxing Association (WABA) middleweight titles in two months’ time.
Through a letter dated June 17, 2016, Chikomba RDC offered the boxer a 2,5-hectare piece of land to build a sports academy as a token of appreciation for his exploits.
This was after he had captured the World Boxing Council Silver welterweight title in May 2016. While he believed he would be the sole owner of the land and envisaged academy, it has since emerged that a council resolution decided to jointly pursue the project with him.
“This issue about the land for the academy can always be resolved and that doesn’t have to disturb my focus.
“I am a champion and I want to continue making Zimbabwe proud, Chikomba District included. So my focus now is on the title defence fights that are coming in November,” Manyuchi said.
He is set to defend his WABA title in Tanzania at a commemorative boxing gala dubbed “Tanganyika Boxing Trail.”
However, the land ownership saga is still lingering in the background.
It has emerged that the offer letter signed by the late Luckson Mutara, who was the then council chief executive officer, was erroneously done. An investigation instituted by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works in 2018 discovered the anomaly.
“The land investigation report noted that a letter that was written to Manyuchi offering him the land for free was against the council resolution of February 2016, which said there should be a partnership between the local authority and Manyuchi to establish an academy,” said Bullen Tatenda Chiwara, the local authority’s current chief executive officer, in an interview with The Sunday Mail Sport.
The two parties are set to meet to iron out the issue. “We want to congratulate Manyuchi for winning the belt (WBF). That puts Chikomba District, the province and the country on the map.
“We are in support as a district of all development, and sport is no exception.
“The issue at hand is not an issue of whether we want the academy or not, because we want it. That’s why there is a resolution to that effect. The issue before us is of the tenure,” said Chiwara. Council is confident a solution to the impasse will be found.
“What we thought is that our champion would engage the local authority if he felt aggrieved by the way the chairman or I handled his issue, of which we never sat down before. “There was still room for the representative of the Minister (Local Government), who is the District Development Coordinator, to handle the grievance so that we make sure we find a home-grown solution to whatever impasse is there . . . Without engagement, we cannot close the chapter . . . in principle, the land for the academy has not been repossessed, it is still there.”
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