AFM Church’s Court Battle Over Property Rages On
The High Court has cleared the way for Reverend Johannes Nehanda, a senior official in the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) in Zimbabwe, to testify in a bitter property dispute linked to the church’s long-running leadership feud.
The case stems from the deep divisions that split AFM in Zimbabwe in 2018, when rival factions clashed over control of the church’s assets and leadership.
The dispute spilled into the courts, with competing leaders registering different entities, each claiming to represent the original AFM.
In the current matter, the AFM is suing Abraham Masamba, Amon Nyika Chinyemba and Odar Housing Development Consortium over control of property, with Nehanda appearing as its representative.
Professor Lovemore Madhuku representing two AFM pastors argued that because AFM is a universitas – a legal entity without physical existence – Nehanda, as its office bearer, should have testified first.
Justice Christopher Dube-Banda dismissed an objection raised by Madhuku, representing two AFM pastors, who argued that Nehanda’s testimony was inadmissible because he had sat in court while other witnesses testified.
“The fact that he was not the first to testify and was sitting in court while other witnesses were testifying does not affect the admissibility of his evidence,” the judge ruled.
“It is not an issue of admissibility, but of weight.”
The court sided with AFM’s counsel, who maintained there is “no rule of law that bars a witness who was sitting in court during the testimony of another witness from testifying.”
The judge also cited regional jurisprudence, stressing that similar objections had failed in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia.
“It would have been preferable that Rev. Nehanda was to be the first to testify. However… such does not debar a witness from testifying,” he said.
The ruling is the latest twist in AFM’s protracted legal wars, which have seen congregants, pastors, and church leaders locked in disputes over who controls the church’s lucrative assets. *NewZW*
