By Judith Nyuke
The legal battle between two brothers-in-law over a ZW$29 million property is set to continue after magistrate Francis Mapfumo dismissed an application for discharge at the close of the State’s case, ruling that the accused person in the matter has a case to answer.
The matter will now proceed to the defence stage on December 1.
The property central to the dispute is located at 58 Spitzkop, Snake Park, Harare. It was jointly acquired in 2007 by Tendai Jemwa and his brother-in-law, Thomas Masango, who are linked not only by marriage to sisters but also by a verbal business partnership they established to buy the asset.
The court heard the State’s allegation, represented by Ephraim Zinyandu, that Jemwa defrauded his partner, Thomas Masango in 2012.
Despite an initial agreement granting Masango a 50 percent share in the property management company, Ten Jem Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Jemwa allegedly secretly obtained the property’s transfer documents from their lawyer without Masango’s consent.
The State alleges that Jemwa proceeded to complete the property transfer solely in the name of Ten Jem Consultancy Pvt Ltd, failing to honor the agreed 50 percent shareholding arrangement with Masango.
Masango claims that this unlawful removal of his name from the jointly acquired asset sparked the bitter feud over the high-value property.
