HARARE — Prominent television journalist and investment facilitator Josey Mahachi is facing a bruising legal battle after being dragged before the High Court of Zimbabwe over an alleged unlawful land grab.
Mahachi is accused of invading communal property to construct a multi-thousand-dollar leisure resort.
The contentious project, named the Mwenewazvo Leisure Centre, has sparked fierce resistance from local villagers who accuse Mahachi of riding roughshod over community rights by leveraging her political proximity to billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote and utilizing her family’s military background.
According to the urgent High Court application filed by the aggrieved villagers, Mahachi’s controversial development has ridden on the back of elite influence and high-level corporate financing.
“Mahachi invaded land and used her father’s military background coupled with a strong financial backing from Bard Santner founder Senziwani Sikhosana whom she helped to link with Dangote and he is the one who is funding her Mwenewazvo project in appreciation to the network with Dangote,” sources allege.
The litigation reveals a web of high-profile connections driving the construction. Mahachi, widely recognized for orchestrating billionaire Aliko Dangote’s high-profile visits to Zimbabwe in the First and Second Republics, has allegedly converted community land into a private commercial venture. Financial muscle for the project is reportedly being provided by Senziwani Sikhosana, a close ally and non-executive director at Bard Santner Microfinance Bank.
According to sources, Sikhosana’s alleged financial underwriting of the leisure complex is a direct quid pro quo gesture to reward Mahachi for establishing networking channels linking him to Dangote’s vast industrial empire, believed to be oiling his new diaspora bank project.
The community’s legal action seeks an immediate interdict to halt ongoing construction work at the Mwenewazvo site, arguing that the occupation of communal land violates local land tenure rights and was executed without proper consultation or legal authorization.!
Lawyers representing the villagers confirmed that court papers have been formally served on the respondents, with the matter expected to be set down for an urgent hearing in the High Court.
Efforts to get comment from Mahachi and Sikhosana were unsuccessful at the time of publishing.
