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Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A CHIKANGA woman has approached the High Court to stop her estranged husband from gifting his son with the couple’s house.
She argued that this will leave her and her three minor children homeless.
This came to light at the Mutare Civil Courts when 18-year-old Panashe Sakarombe had dragged his stepmother, Beauty Masona, to court.
Panashe was applying for Masona’s eviction from the family’s Chikanga house.
He also applied for an interdict order to bar Masona from collecting rentals from the house in question, arguing that she is not the legal owner.
Panashe claimed that his father, Herbert Sakarombe, handed over the house to him.
He even produced change of deed documents and title deeds to prove that he is the rightful owner of the house.
The duo appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato recently.
In his application, Panashe argued that Masona should stop collecting rentals from tenants residing at the Chikanga house, claiming that he needs to use the money to pay for his school fees.
“Your Worship, I should be doing Advanced Level, but I am only doing Form Three because I am struggling to raise school fees. My father stays at our farm in Headlands and when he gave me the house and changed its ownership, he told me that I should use the property’s rentals for my upkeep,” he said.
Panashe also said his stepmother and her three minor children should be evicted from the house.
“I want them evicted and my stepmother should stop collecting rentals from the tenants using the other rooms at the house. I need the money to pay for my school fees. If the court dismisses my applications, my life will be ruined as I will be forced to drop out of school,” he argued.
In response, Masona begged the court to spare her from eviction.
She claimed that she and her husband acquired the property together before he fraudulently changed ownership.
She told the court that she has made an interdict application at Mutare High Court to stop the change of ownership.
“This is my house and Panashe is aware of this. I got married when he was doing ECD and I looked after him from then until now. I cannot believe that he is now treating me like a stranger when I am the closest person to a mother that he knows. Hebert fraudulently changed ownership of the house and gave it to Panashe behind my back,” said the teary woman.
She said her husband also sold their other Gweru property as well as several vehicles behind her back.
“Ever since we started having disputes and suing each other, my husband has been a nuisance. As a way of fixing me, he fraudulently gifted Panashe with our house. His no show in this court today and sending a child to sanitise his dirty deeds just shows what kind of man he is.
“When he was retired, he left home and squandered the lump sum with the girlfriend he is staying with at our Headlands farm.
“I contributed in developing the farm to be what it is today but he has barred me from setting foot there. Now he wants me out of my own house. Your Worship, if the court kicks me out, where will I go with my young children? The law should protect me and my children. I have no one else to turn to,” moaned Masona.
Mr Chipato dismissed both applications on the grounds that Sakarombe had failed to prove that he has a clear right to the property.
The matter is also pending before a superior court.
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