Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
RIVAL Miracles Seed Faith Ministries church leaders in Bulawayo are locked in a fight over the control of church funds generated from rentals collected from Transmedia Corporation.
The church is leasing out a piece of land in Lobengula West to the corporation which has erected digital satellite television equipment on the property.
In court papers, Pauline Sithembile Makuyana, who is the chairperson of the board running the affairs of the church, is the applicant while Goliath Mtshumayeli Sibanda and Greatjoy Fayisa Mthwazi, who are both pastors; Langelihle Mlilo, a church member and the Registrar of Deeds were cited as respondents.
Makuyana, in her founding affidavit, accused the respondents of fraudulently registering the church’s constitution with the Deeds Office to facilitate the collection of monthly rentals from Transmedia Corporation at the expense of the church.
Makuyana said the church was founded by her parents and vowed that she would not allow “outsiders” to take charge of its assets.
“Soon after the death of my parents, an interim board for the ministry was set up and I was elected chairperson. Everything went well until 2013 when Transmedia approached us with the intention of applying for a lease on a portion of the church’s property in Lobengula West. Sibanda and Mthwazi attempted to privately engage Transmedia by excluding the rest of the ministry members” said Makuyana.
“As children of the founders of the ministry we then wrote a letter to Transmedia through our legal practitioner indicating that the company should deal with the ministry directly not a group within the church.”
She said soon after a substantive board was elected, she retained her post.
“Once the board was elected it then engaged Transmedia and a new lease agreement was drafted and signed by both parties on the understanding that the transmission company would pay $1,500 monthly,” said Makuyana.
She said Sibanda, who is also a board member, teamed up with Mthwazi and they deliberately instructed Transmedia to deposit money for rentals into an old bank account in which they are the only signatories.
“It came to the board’s attention that the rentals amounting to $9,000 had been paid into the church’s old account whose signatories are Sibanda and Mthwazi,” said Makuyana.
She said efforts to order the respondents to transfer the money into the new church account have so far hit a brick wall.