50 Kadoma residents in court over US$38k Council arrears

 

– Magistrate advises City of Kadoma to educate residents on estate procedures

– Residents slam Residents Associations

By Lloyd Mwale in Kadoma

City of Kadoma has hauled 50 residents to Kadoma Civil Court (Small Claims) for not paying council bills totalling US$38 000. The deafulting residents appeared before Kadoma magistrate Tariro Amanda Chamisa who ordered them to settle their arrears with the city council or risk losing their properties.

City of Kadoma (plantiff) was represented by Magadzira and Nhokwara Legal Practioners while the residents (defendents) represented themselves with each owing council US$767.24, respectively.

The 50 residents are mainly from Ward 5 in Rimuka.

During the court proceedings most defendents who appeared before Magistrate Chamisa were either sons, daughters, sisters, grandsons, granddaughters or close relatives of the actual owners of the residential properties in arrears, whose actual owners are late. The magistrate however, insisted that the actual owners be present before the courts and dismissed the said representatives after ordering them to settle the arrears with the city council or risk losing the properties.

The defendents were also advised to change the ownership of the estates legally.

Magistrate Chamisa advised City of Kadoma to educate its valued residents on the importance of change of estate to avoid the scenario where properties are still in the names of deceased owners, decades after the owners had passed on, as most of the defendants were not aware of the legal requirements of change of estate ownership within the stipulated time frame.

However most residents blasted Kadoma’s residents associations for misleading them on the pretext that they will represent them when it comes to courts matters.

“Where are those residents associations who were in the forefront advising us not to pay council bills because we have had no single drop of water on our taps for the past decades. They mislead us, we are here at the court alone as residents and no single association is here for us but they say on social media that we should not pay council bills because there is no service delivery,” said one irate resident who had just appeared before the Kadoma magistrate.

Greater Kadoma Residents and Ratepayers Association secretary Bvunza Bope in an interview said that it was unfortunate for residents that the city authorities have taken the courts’ route without exhausting other options.

“The move taken by council is unfortunate. There is need to interrogate the reasons why residents are failing to meet their obligations with council. The taking of residents to court should be the last resort where other options have been exhausted,” said the Greater Kadoma Residents and Ratepayers Association Secretary.

Kadoma has four residents associations but all of them have no database of members and are just whatsapp grouping masquerading as residents associations.