Harare Acting Town Clerk Engineer Mabhena Phakamile Moyo has defended an illegal deed settlement entered by City of Harare and Aurgur Investments, an private limited company which is owned by Kenneth Raydon Sharpe.
The disputed deed of settlement saw the City Fathers parcelling out vast amounts of land in Harare to the same company.
In a an affidavit at the High Court Acting Town Clerk Engineer Mabhena Phakamile Moyo representing City of Harare, dismissed the allegations of theft of land by property developing company Augur Investments.
Moyo’s submissions follows a high court application made by MDC Alliance legislator Norman Markham.
The application was seeking the attention of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Minister of Local Government July Moyo to clear the air on the illegal land deal with Augur Investment owned by the Ukrainian based Kenneth Raydon Sharpe.
Defense for Hosiah Chisango
“The prayer for the setting aside of the Deed of Settlement is premised on the wrong facts. It is not true that Hebert Gomba and Hosiah Chisango did not have authority to act on behalf of the City of Harare when they entered into the agreement. They did a special council meeting which was held on May 16, 2019 which gave them such authority.”
The illegal land deal entered in good faith and contravention of public policy
“From the information that I have gathered from some of the records relating to this transaction, the Deed of Settlement was entered in good faith and was made in the best interests of the public.
Things may not have gone as expected but the original intention was to promote infrastructural development for the benefit of the public. Therefore, the City of Harare does not accept that the Deed of Settlement is contrary to public policy.”
The application sucked in President Mnangagwa, Sharpe, Tatiana Aleshina, Michael van Blerk, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing minister July Moyo, Doorex Properties and Registrar of Deeds who are all cited as respondents.
In the application, Markham alleges that the Deed of settlement was illegal.
“The prayer for the setting aside of the Deed of Settlement is premised on the wrong facts. It is not true that Hebert Gomba and Hosiah Chisango did not have authority to act on behalf of the City of Harare when they entered into the agreement. They did a special council meeting which was held on May 16, 2019 which gave them such authority,” argued Moyo
Panic mode after social media outburst
“It has recently come to our attention that false and libelous information is being circulated in the press and on social media regarding parcels of land legitimately paid to us by the City of Harare as well our joint venture company with them called Sunshine Developments.”
The City of Harare entered into an illegal deed of settlement with Aurgur Investments after withdrawing a court case upon the directive from the Minister of Local Government through the the President.
The deed of settlement which has been criticized for being set up on illegal basis led to the creation of a joint venture company (JVC) by City of Harare and Aurgur Investments, known as Sunshine.
Sunshine, a product of the joint venture between City of Harare and Aurgur Investments is also challenged in the court cases. The registration of Sunshine Company which led to the parceling out of land to Aurgur Investments has been largely criticized on the basis that it was illegally registered.
