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THE ownership wrangle over a church building in Rusape pitting the United Methodist Church (UMC) and the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) has turned ugly with representatives of the former accusing the latter of disrupting their church services and vandalism.
UMC Makoni-Buhera District Superintendent, Reverend Diana Matikiti has approached the Rusape Civil Court seeking a peace order against two members of MCZ — Happison Muregwi and Valentine Ziswa.
The two groups are fighting over ownership of the Rusape Community Church.
The matter is pending at the High Court.
The building houses the UMC’s Makoni-Buhera’s offices.
Rev Matikiti said Muregwi and Ziswa had resorted to hiring people to harass and threaten her and some workmates.
“In July 2015, the respondents came to the premises to disturb ongoing church services and verbally insulted those present. On August 28, 2015, the respondents in the company of other men unknown to me came to my offices and put key blockers and chains on the office doors during the night, thereby denying myself and co-workers access to our offices.
“On September 28, 2015, Muregwi came with two other men who are also unknown to me and started verbally assaulting me. They broke the keys at the main gate and the other gate to my main offices. The two men advised me that they had been “hired” to assist Muregwi to threaten myself (sic). They confessed that they had even come to my residential address in the night, but they had refrained (sic) from carrying out the instructions they had been given as I had not harmed them in any manner.
“Other employees and myself are now living in fear of the respondents and their conduct. I have made several reports to the police of these encounters and they have advised me to seek a peace order and an interdict against respondents,” said Rev Matikiti.
Muregwi and Ziswa are denying ever harassing Rev Matikiti and claim that they had the right to use the church.
“We deny ever disturbing applicant’s peace as alleged or at all. We have visited the Methodist Church in question as member of the Methodist Church. The applicant has no clear right to the premises and even if they had a right, the matter is pending at the High Court which remedy they should exhaust,” the pair argued.
Magistrate Mrs Elizabeth Hanzi is yet to give the matter a trial date.
Online Reporter