A Bulawayo widow, who last month watched helplessly while her seven-roomed house was destroyed, in a fit of rage, by a woman believed to be a soldier, has lost ownership of the property.
Luveve 5 residents watched helplessly on September 22 when a middle-aged woman, Abigail Ndlovu, went berserk demanding that Ema Sibanda (65) and her family vacate the house.
All that happened while the matter was before courts.
Sibanda said while the house in question is said to have been sold in 2018 by her husband’s young brother, Noel Dube, for ZWL$ 24, 000 to one Abigail Ndlovu, a military person, she only got to know about the transaction in 2020 when Ndlovu came wanting to occupy the premises.
She said her late husband, Samuel Dube who had four wives including herself, died in 2014 and left her the house, house number 5959 Luveve 5.
One of the surviving wives is living in Nkayi in rural areas.
The Bulawayo High Court has since ruled against Sibanda who has also vacated the premises.
CITE this week reached out to Sibanda who is temporarily housed in Cowdray Park by a Good Samaritan and she said she was devastated by the development.
“The house has been given to the one who is said to have bought it when it is very clear that it has been bought under unclear circumstances,” decried Sibanda.
“I have since left the place and my goods are now squashed where I am. Some of my goods are being taken care of by my neighbours. I have not found a place to stay.”
She said the house was her source of livelihood.
“I have been earning my living from that house since the death of my husband,” she said. “That’s where my food was coming from through rent payments. But today I have nothing and nowhere to start besides waiting to be taken care of, including my property.”
Asked about her confidence in the country’s legal system, Sibanda had this to say: “I have no energy to talk about that considering the way I lost my house. If things are done this way, then where are the human rights? I am just perplexed.”
