Granny evicted and arrested for contempt of court

court

A 60-year-old Chitungwiza woman has been left homeless after her husband sold the family home behind her back.

And true to the adage that problems do not come singly, Mrs Sinai Mapengo was a fortnight ago jailed for 10 days for defying a court order to vacate number 2049 in Unit A, Chitungwiza, after Mr Amos Mapengo sold it earlier this year.

Mrs Mapengo appeared at the town’s magistrates’ courts recently charged with contempt of court and was convicted of the offence. She was thrown behind bars for 10 days.

When The Herald visited the house on Tuesday, Mrs Mapengo’s property was still strewn outside just as it has been for the past two weeks. The woman and her children are staying with a daughter in Manyame Park.

According to Mrs Mapengo’s daughter, Susan (33), her mother was arrested and spent 10 days at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for resisting the eviction and was only released last Friday.

"We were given two months notice to leave the house, so when the messenger of court came two weeks ago, they evicted my mother and family and dumped our property outside.

"My mother was also arrested that same day for contempt of a court order. She stayed at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for 10 days and upon her return, I took her to my house in Manyame Park where we are staying together with the rest of the family. But the property is still outside there in Unit A," she said.

The daughter said their mother and father had a fallout back in 2008. Mr Mapengo left the home soon afterwards and reportedly never returned.

"He left home in a huff in 2008 and never returned. We don’t know where he is even up to now.

"We were surprised to see some people coming to us telling us that the house had been sold to Ms Gemina Gumbo, who had bought it for a minor and appointed a guardian, Ms Pauline Gutsa, to manage it.

"We took the case to the Chitungwiza Magistrates’ Courts the same year but were shocked to hear that another person, Rose Nhepera, had bought it again, in early 2009," she said.

This led to the eviction two weeks ago. Mrs Mapengo produced the marriage certificate that shows that she is still legally married to the man who deserted her two years ago. They were married in 1975 under the African Marriages Act (Chapter 105). Yesterday, the house was still unoccupied.