Air Force boss in court for unlawful entry, blocking school

Air Vice-Marshal Shebba Brighton Shumbayaonda was arraigned before Guruve magistrate courts on 12 May following a civil dispute emanating from access and control of farm buildings that had been converted to classrooms in Mvurwi Mashonaland Central. The buildings are located at plot number 5 Machete farm.

The court heard that sometime in August 2016 during the school holidays, Living Rock High school's property, comprising of 14 tables, 14 chairs and 1 white board, were locked in one room and 42 chairs and 2 white boards were locked in two other buildings at the school's premises for safe keeping.

"Shumbayaonda unlawfully entered into the school premises and welded the offices or rooms, doors and put bugler bar screen gates on all the doors and fenced the area with steel rods, interfering with the land boundaries and alleged that the buildings or rooms belonged to him.

Shumbayaonda unlawfully dispossessed and denied the school access to its buildings and its property.



The Air Vice-Marshal had no court order entitling him to take possession of the school's property and he is accused of taking the law into his own hands.

Nancy Mabhoyi of Mabhoyi and Associates claimed the school suffered irreparable harm as a result of Shumbayaonda's continued possession of the school property and buildings as the school has no buildings to operate from.



At one point the matter got heated when the legal representative of Shumbayaonda insisted that Mabhoyi refer to Shumbayaonda as Air Vice Marshall Shumbayaonda but Mabhoyi would have none of it and continued to refer to the respondent as Shumbayaonda.

By consent, before Guruve magistrate Shingirai Mutiro through his legal representative Debwe and Partners, Shumbayaonda agreed to return the remaining assets.

The court also determined that the issue of access to the buildings shall be determined by the relevant authorities.