adminConfirming a provisional order granted by Justice Lawrence Kamocha on 19 May last year, senior Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Ndou ordered Grimms Nursery School and Ms Noreen Campbell not to evict the association without a court order.
The respondents, Grimms Nursery School and Ms Campbell, were ordered to pay the costs of the suit on an attorney-client scale.
In her founding affidavit, Ms Irene Sibanda, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Parents of Handicapped Children Association branch states that on 1 January 2010, her association entered into a lease agreement with the respondents in which the association leased a property from Ms Campbell.
The lease was for five years but during the course of the lease the association became indebted to Grimms Nursery School through rent arrears.
In April last year, the respondents unilaterally and without any lawful cause, closed the premises and changed the locks of the doors denying the association access to the building, she wrote.
The association is an organisation which runs a relief day care centre which takes care of children with disabilities.
The children cannot stand, sit, talk or walk.
“When the respondents locked the building, the applicant’s equipment which includes, inter alia, wheelchairs, blankets and special fridge used to store foodstuffs was locked in. The applicant has no access to them,” she wrote.
She added that the association could not provide its services to the handicapped children without its equipment and the life of the children was at risk.
“Applicants have a clear right to occupy the premises as there is a valid lease agreement between the parties which was not terminated in any ay.
“The actions of the respondents will cause irreparable harm to the children as their daily routine will be disturbed and they cannot get specialised care that they are receiving anywhere else.”
The respondents did not oppose the urgent chamber application.
Online Reporter