THE Mining Industry Pension Fund (MIPF) on Thursday filed an urgent High Court application in a bid to stop the Harare city council from erecting a statue of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo at Karigamombe Centre.

Council had started preparing for the erection of the statue in defiance of protests by Matabeleland-based groups on the choice of the site to honour the memory of one Zimbabwe’s founding fathers.

The protestors argue the Karigamombe building was named after Mugabe in celebration of his brutal suppression of PF Zapu led by Nkomo during the Gukurahundi genocide.

In court papers filed last week — in which the council and the co-ministers of Home Affairs Theresa Makone (MDC-T) and Kembo Mohadi (Zanu PF) as well as Mutual Construction Company are cited as respondents — the MIPF wants construction of the statue to be stopped immediately.

The pension fund owns the land bound by Julius Nyerere Way, Kwame Nkrumah Avenue and Angwa Street.

MIPF’s application has been set down for hearing on Tuesday before Justice Ben Hlatshwayo.
In a certificate of urgency filed in support of the application through its lawyers Gill Godlonton and Gerrans, the MIPF say it wants the matter dealt with as soon as possible because it fears that once it is erected the  property may become  a protected area under the National Museums and Monuments Act.
This would prevent the MIPF from removing the statue once construction is complete.

The MIPF said they own the land which they purchased in August 1999 from a company known as Indigeco (Private) Limited and council had not sought permission to erect the life-size statue.

The fund says it had already reached an agreement with fast food giant Innscor to set up a food court at the site.

“The project to develop that piece of land is a major project for the applicant, which will improve the immovable property and ensure generation of profit from its asset for the benefit of the generality of the pensioners of the mining industry,” said the MIPF in its affidavit.

“In any event these developments jeopardise the applicant’s arrangement with Innscor as it is reasonably foreseeable that Innscor may not want to be associated with any controversy over this piece of land.
“That would be more harmful to their brand. Time and resources have already been committed to the arrangement with Innscor.”

MIPF said attempts to resolve the matter amicably with the city council through Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi had been fruitless because the local authority had refused to acknowledge that the property belonged to them.

Mahachi yesterday said he could not comment on the matter as he was driving from his rural home.
In a Bulawayo, another life-size bronze statue of Nkomo is being erected in the central business district. Nkomo died on July 1 1999 and government has been accused of failing to properly honour his memory.

BY BERTHA SHOKO

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