Story by Bruce Chahwanda, Political Editor
Skeletons have begun to fall from the closet of controversial war veteran, Cde Blessed Geza, who has been sucked in a US$1.5 million property grab in Harare.
Harare Safari Lodge was a luxurious and vibrant resort five years ago, but a visit to the place this Tuesday revealed signs of pure neglect.
This is the US$1.5 million property that the beleaguered war veteran allegedly invaded in 2020, elbowing out the owner, MrBrett McDonald and his employees.
According to close sources, Geza entered into a sale agreement with Mr McDonald, but failed to pay the agreed amount despite moving in with his wife and sister.
Whatman & Stewart Associate’s legal counsel Mr Simbarashe Chigumira said, “So, our client, Mr. Brett McDonald, entered into an agreement of sale for shares in a company called Arare Safari Lodge with Mr. Blessed Runesu Geza. In terms of that agreement, Mr. Geza was supposed to pay the amount of US$1.5 million within 14 days of signing the agreement.
“The party signed the agreement in December 2020, but Mr. Geza did not manage to raise the purchase price for the shares. Another term of the agreement was that upon purchasing the shares, Mr. Geza would consequently take over the Harare Safari Lodge, which is currently housed at Lake Chivero. But despite failing to raise the purchase price, Mr. Geza took occupation of the lodge without our client’s consent. Our client advises us that he forcibly removed his staff from the property and that he even occupied the primary residence, which belongs to our client.”
Geza has reportedly been occupying the tourist resort since 2020 and all vehicles and some movable assets belonging to McDonald have been sold.
Mr Chigumira added, “The matter has been in court and is scheduled to go to trial sometime later in this court term, maybe in March, but there hasn’t been any purchase price or any amount of consideration given by Mr. Geza for the shares in that company. And during his occupation of the property, we are advised that he has been disposing of assets that belong to our client, because our client was running a wedding venue slash guest lodge operation on the property. So assets like vehicles and other precious movables have been disposed of without our client’s consent.”
According to McDonald’s lawyers, efforts to evict Geza from the property following the cancellation of the agreement have been unsuccessful.
