Staff Reporter
Harare – The arrest of two Ward 12 Housing Cooperative leaders has triggered outrage and deepened suspicion that controversial businessman Kenneth Raydon Sharpe and his company Sunshine Development are manipulating state institutions to silence dissent and seize land from legitimate owners.
On the day of his arrest, 71-year-old cooperative chairman Cuthbert Molisen Finiyasi was summoned to Sharpe’s plush Mt Pleasant offices.
There, he was pressed to cede part of the cooperative’s land in the Arcadia area.
When he refused and began preparing a report to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), he was hastily called back, and ZACC officers who had seen earlier receiving envelopes at Sharpe’s office pounced and dragged him to ZACC offices and later Avondale Police Station.
At ZACC headquarters, Finiyasi was detained until 10pm, forced to sign a warned-and-cautioned statement that later disappeared from the record.
His home was later vandalised by ZACC officials raising further suspicion about collusion.
Former Zanu PF youth leader Jim Kunaka initially handed himself over at ZACC for questioning after learning of Finiyasi’s arrest.
He was later transferred to Avondale where he too was arrested.
Both men were dragged to court, denied bail, and thrown into remand prison.
More baffling was the conduct of the investigating officer, who continued to say investigations are still ongoing during cross-examination and failed to justify the arrests or provide any credible cause.
The arrests have also thrown light on some members of the cooperative who are carrying out fraudulent activities in the name of the co-op.
Secretary Amelia Goneso and chairperson Dananai Chikanya are accused by members of serious fraudulent dealings, allegedly swindling a developer and desperate home seekers while using the cooperative’s name.
Members claim Goneso and Chikanya sacrificed Kunaka and Finiyasi to block scrutiny of their own shady transactions and to pave the way for Sunshine Development to muscle in on the Arcadia project.
“The charges are a complete fabrication, ZACC has been co-opted into underhand dealings designed to intimidate people. What is even more appalling is that developments continue unabated on the very land in dispute, despite the matter being before the courts,” said a member of the cooperative on condition of anonymity
At the heart of the controversy lies Sunshine Development (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture between Augur Investment, a Sharpe-owned company, and the City of Harare.
A 2009 Special Investigations Report revealed that Augur had received massive tracts of prime council land but failed to inject the agreed US$20–30 million for projects.
The agreement had promised affordable housing at Warren Hills Golf Course and Hopley Farm, a luxury hotel and a truck-inn near Mbudzi.
Sunshine Development and its directors Sharpe (South African), Olelksandr Sheremet (Ukrainian), M.J. Van Blerk, Tendai Mahachi, Psychology Chiwanga (Zimbabweans) and Alistair Gibson (British) are linked to the disappearance of vast land parcels.
Among the properties listed as looted in the report are Stand 8113 Warren Park (80.5ha), Stand 8118 Warren Park (20.7ha), and several stands in Tariro, Hopley, totaling hundreds of hectares.
The same 2009 report ordered Augur to return land and recommended disciplinary action against senior council officials, including the then Town Clerk, who authorised title deeds for Augur without council approval.
It further barred all municipal employees from entertaining Augur’s business. Engineer Munyonga was singled out for defying that directive.
Yet despite these findings, Sharpe and Sunshine Development continue to wield influence, an influence now strong enough, it seems, to engineer the arrests of grassroots leaders standing in the way of further land grabs.
For Ward 12 Cooperative members, the arrests of Finiyasi and Kunaka are not just a legal matter, they represent a direct assault on the rightful owners of the land.
Many believe the pair are being punished for protecting the cooperative’s land from speculative takeover.
“Imagine a 71-year-old being denied bail and having to be remanded for standing his ground. It cannot be. Instead of arresting those who looted Harare’s land, the system is jailing the victims,” he added
