‘Evicted people with disabilities refused help’
THE more than 20 people living with disabilities evicted from Masterton Cheshire Home in Harare, reportedly refused to take up income-generating projects and chased away Roman Catholic nuns who were taking care of the property, owners of the institution have claimed.
Documents made available to NewsDay show that in 1999 Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust (LCDZT) offered eight people who were living at the home a chance to start income-generating projects of their choice which would be funded by Leonard Cheshire Disability UK after leaving Masterton Cheshire Home.
The LCDZT in a statement yesterday said only two of the eight evictees took up the project and the other who was severely disabled had a house built for her as their six other counterparts allegedly insisted on staying at the home.
Six persons remained at Masterton Cheshire Home and during their stay they allegedly chased away nuns who had been appointed by the trust to look after the home, forcing the board to approach the courts seeking their eviction.
“The board of trustees was left with no option, but to effect the eviction orders. By this time the trustees had appointed the Roman Catholic nuns to oversee the running of the home, but they were chased away by the residents,” read part of court papers.
The board of trustees, said the home was established as a temporary shelter for people living with disabilities to allow them to get access to vocational training before moving out to start life on their own.
In its court application, the board claimed that it had been denied access to the home by residents, who were now subletting the home to a church and a doctor and pocketing the proceeds as the trust continued to pay water bills and rates for the property for more than 17 years.
A full Constitutional Court bench on November 23 last year ruled that the residents should be evicted and they were given five months to organise their own alternative accommodation, but they defied the order and stayed put until their eviction last week.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
