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H-Metro Reporter
FOR three years now, Crowhill Estate, in Borrowdale, Harare, has been a theatre of lawlessness amid rampant and chaotic illegal sales of stands.
The saga has rumbled in the courts.
Last week, the controversial couple at the heart of the chaos withdrew its High Court suit, seeking to stop the eviction of illegal settlers, in the latest chapter of this ugly courtroom drama, which once again casts the spotlight on illegal activities targeting desperate home-seekers in Harare.
The couple, Florence and Felix Pambukani, have a controversial past after a conviction, and time spent in jail, for fraud.
The couple had sought to try and stop the eviction of settlers, who bought land from them in deals which, effectively, were deemed illegal by both the High Court and Supreme Court.
The Pambukanis withdrew their High Court suit because the illegal settlers had already been evicted and urgent applications cannot be tied to past events.
The Sheriff of the High Court has been evicting the settlers, who appear to be the biggest losers in this messy battle, after they bought land from the couple when the Pambukanis did not have the ownership rights to effect the transactions.
Despite the High Court and Supreme Court orders barring the couple from selling property at Crowhill Estate, the Pambukanis have been doing so, in a brazen disregard of the courts.
They claim they are the rightful owners of Crowhill Estate which, in terms of both the High Court and Supreme Court, belongs to Crowhill Farm (Pvt) Ltd.
Three years ago, Justice Chinamora, ruled that:
l The respondents (Florence and Felix Pambukani), or any of their agents and/or employees, or anyone acting on their behalf, are ordered to restore possession of the land and stands they are currently occupying in Crowhill Estate, which is not an undivided 0,00298 percent, being share number 702 in a certain piece of land in the District of Salisbury called Lot J of Borrowdale Estate measuring 724,0475 hectares, to the applicant or any of its agents and/or employees, or anyone acting on its behalf, immediately upon service of this order, failing which the Sheriff of Zimbabwe be and is hereby directed forthwith to eject the respondents or any of their agents and/or employees, or anyone acting on their behalf, from occupation thereon and restore occupation to the applicant or any of its agents and/or employees or anyone acting on its behalf.
l The respondents or any of their agents and/or employees, or anyone acting on their behalf are ordered to cease operations and remove all of their equipment and/or materials on the land and/or stands they are currently occupying in Crowhill Estate, which are not an undivided 0,00298 percent, being share number 702 in a certain piece of land in the District of Salisbury called Lot J of Borrowdale Estate measuring 724,0475 hectares, immediately upon service of this order, failing which the Sheriff of Zimbabwe be and is hereby directed forthwith to remove the said equipment and/or materials.
The couple’s appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed.
However, despite all these court judgments, the lawlessness, when it comes to the buying and selling of properties across the estate, has continued, with the Pambukanis, at the heart of the transactions.
The decision by the owners to reclaim their property has resulted in scores of people, who bought these properties, counting their losses, after being evicted by the Sheriff of Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter