The theft of the title deeds for the home of the former Minister of Education, Dr Dzingai Mutumbuka, in Chisipite suburb of Harare has exposed a critical vulnerability in the country's title registration system, specifically the lack of integrity and security in registered titles.
The ease with which his original deed of title was obtained and manipulated has raised concerns for reforms at the institution.
One of the people involved in the theft and manipulation of Dr Mutumbuka's title deed was a lover of a member of staff of the Deeds Registry.
The case has also brought to the fore the need for reforms in the Deeds Registry to safeguard property rights and maintain public confidence in the country's title registration system.
Dr Mutumbuka finally won back his US$600,000 Chisipite residence in Harare with costs after a nearly three-year long battle.
High Court Judge Justice Nyaradzo Priscilla Munangati-Manongwa last week ordered Demetria Zirenga and her husband Harrison Marange, who had bought the house, to vacate the premises within 15 days or face eviction by the Sheriff.
It all started when Dr Mutumbuka's title deed was stolen from the Deeds Office, forged, and sold to Marange for a fraction of the house's value.
The fraudsters sold the house for just US$140,000.
However, Dr Mutumbuka who is a senior World Bank executive in the United States of America, acted swiftly and appealed to the High Court.
Justice Munangati-Manongwa's ruling declared Dr Mutumbuka the legitimate owner, possessing valid title to the home, and deemed Jonah Ngome's title deed fake, fraudulent, invalid, and of no force and effect.
Justice Munangati-Manongwa ordered the Deeds Office to expunge from its records, any record or deed showing that Ngome is the owner of 90 Harare Drive, Colne Valley, Chisipite.
Dr Mutumbuka's title deed was pulled from the Deeds Office by Lynna Mlambo, a supervisor who gave it to her boyfriend Tatenda 'Shaft' Wakatama. Wakatama kept the deed for a week, forged his names and returned the deed to the Deeds Office through another person.
Using the forged deed, Ngome sold the house to Zirenga and Marange and allowed them to take occupancy after just paying US$45 000.
Dr Mutumbuka and those who stood for him were evicted from his house using an order granted on September 18, 2023, by the High Court.
Justice Munangati-Manongwa said that Zirenga and Marange, who had applied for a declaratur, had no full rights to do so since they only had an agreement of sale to the house and not the title.
The title deed through which they claimed ownership was still in the name of Ngome.
The judge ripped through Ngome's title deed and said it was fake and replete with fraud. It had no official stamp, no dates or mortgage records.
Ngome's title deed was also dismissed as a fraud by the Registrar of Deeds.
The case also took a dramatic turn when Justice Munangati-Manongwa accused Zirenga and Marange's lawyers, Hope Ndanaka Tirivavi and Advocate Method Ndlovu, of pursuing a meritless case, leading to its dismissal with costs.
Dr Mutumbuka was represented by Advocate Edley Mubayiwa, while the Registrar of Deeds was represented by A. Kadengure.
Dr Mutumbuka's legal team was vindicated, while Zirenga and Marange's lawyers faced criticism for pursuing a flawed case.
In her ruling, Justice Munangati-Manongwa even questioned why Ngome never appeared in court to defend his rights to the house.
"Ngome who claims to be the owner of the house through a title deed has never been anywhere close to the courts to defend his property," she said.
"Ngome is silent in both applications. He has not opposed. Ngome has never claimed to be the owner of the house.
"He must answer to it and he has not. Ngome is silent. He accepts the fraud to his deed by remaining silent."
Speaking to The Herald yesterday, Adv Mubaiwa said the case brings to the fore one of the major challenges confronting the entire system of title registration, namely the integrity and security of registered title.
He said there should never be room for registered titles to be stolen by criminals, manipulated behind the registered owner's back and under the nose of the registry.
"Sadly, this principle is on shaky ground in this jurisdiction because we keep witnessing the unthinkable," he said.
Dr Mutumbuka has owned his house since 1988 in terms of a certificate of consolidated title.
After so many years of holding that title, said Adv Mubaiwa, some criminal went to the deeds registry where his lover worked and asked his lover for a copy of Dr Mutumbuka's deed of title under the pretext that he just wanted to see it and do a deeds search.
"Shockingly, he was actually allowed to walk away with the original deed of title," he said.
"What he brought back was a different document which now had the name of someone else as the title holder but the property being the same.
"That person then sold the property to a couple who then evicted Dr Mutumbuka."
The Marange couple did not have title themselves but had used their agreement of sale from Ngome to obtain an unusual default judgment which they used to evict Mr Mutumbuka from his property.
During the hearing, Adv Mubaiwa attacked the entire process from several angles. First, he argued that Dr Mutumbuka's title was intact and had not been cancelled either by order of court as required by section 8(1) of the Deeds Registries Act or by a subsequent transfer.
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That being the case, the lawyer argued, Dr Mutumbuka's title was and is alive and had to be given the force which the law accords to it.
Secondly, it was argued that the Registrar of Deeds actively partook in the matter and placed it on record that he did not process the competing title deed in favour of the "scoundrel".
In terms of section 5(d) of the Deeds Registries Act, a deed of title only comes into existence when it has been executed or attested by the registrar.
The evidence of the registrar established that the title deed held by the accused was a fraud and, therefore, not a valid title deed out of which any rights could be given to the couple who bought from the criminal.
Thirdly, the accused disappeared from the proceedings. He did not file anything to oppose Dr Mutumbuka's position or help his buyers' position.
"He did not have the courage to come defend his so-called title deed. So there were effectively no legal legs on which the couple could stand on," said Adv Mubaiwa.
"The court agreed with our position. It was clear from the very beginning that there had been fraud and that Dr Mutumbuka's title remained intact," said Adv Mubaiwa.
