Zimbabwe: Businessman Tendai Mashamhanda has been evicted from a high-end mansion in a posh highland of Harare. He was suspended until the Supreme Court decided on his next appeal and has heard the arguments for this week.
Reportedly, the eviction notice required him to vacate the house by the end of Thursday, but the businessman has filed an appeal against the High Court’s judgement.
Later, the three judge appeal panel of Justice Tendai Uchena, Justice George Chiweshe and Justice Hlekani Mwayera heard the fresh appeal and reserved their ruling to a date that was extended.
Businessman Mashamhanda is represented by Professor Lovemore Madhuku and is instructed by Kudzai Rangarirai. They are challenging the eviction based on the improvements he impacted on the property, costing millions of United States dollars.
Prof. Madhuku said that it is not in dispute that Mashamhanda made improvements to the property; therefore, he is entitled to compensation before the eviction. Professor added that the businessman cannot just walk away empty handed after all that efforts.
As per the sources, Bariade Investments won the legal fight over the house, last year in 2023. They opposed the appeal by arguing that Mashamhanda should not be compensated for the alleged improvements because they have gone against the court’s order.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that businessman Mashamhanda has noted an appeal against the judgement, execution and would proceed if he would have to go untilthe final Supreme Court decision over the eviction.
Despite all this, the businessman is still asking the Supreme Court to order a forensic check of the documents used to decide in favour of Bariade Investments to see if any were forged.
Notably, Tendai Mashamhanda is the son of the business mogul Alex Mashamhanda, who founded Mashwede Holdings. He bought the disputed house for US $230,000 from Harare lawyer Puwai Chiutsi before developing it to the value of US $1.5 million but the High Court ruled that it was fraudulently sold to him therefore he must be evicted.