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Mr Maxwell Shumba who founded Elite High School with his wife Sibusisiwe in 1999 has instructed his lawyer, Mr Solomon Mguni, of Hwalima, Moyo and Associates to institute legal proceedings against the proprietor of Green Gables School, Mr Richard Sibanda, and his entire board.

Mr Mguni confirmed receipt of the letter although he said he was yet to institute legal action.
Mr Shumba wants the school evicted from the premises and to pay rentals for using his property that he built and left at the school when he was evicted, from the day the school started to operate to date.
History is likely to repeat itself, as the development could affect pupils as the first term starts next week.

Elite High School closed in 2009 after being evicted from Green Gables Farm near Khami Ruins where it was operating from, at a time when pupils were about to write their national examinations.
They ended up writing from an alternative venue in the city centre.

The Apostolic Faith Mission Church, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, United States of America, owns the farm where the school at the centre of the legal battle is situated.
Mr Shumba said Mr Sibanda who claimed to be representing the church yet he had been ex-communicated, illegally evicted him.

Mr Sibanda was ex-communicated from the church in 2005 for being rebellious but he has remained adamant and continued to use church property and name.
He reportedly went on to appoint his own board and opened Green Gables without the blessing of the church’s headquarters.

The church now reportedly views Mr Sibanda and his board as rebels who are misleading members of the church by continuing to use the name of the church.
Chronicle is in possession of a letter written by Superintendent-General Darrel Lee at the headquarters dated 9 June 2005 expelling Mr Sibanda from the church and the appointment of a new board in Zimbabwe.

Mr Sindiso Mazibisa, of Cheda and Partners, represented Mr Sibanda on his expulsion case and also when he evicted Elite.
Contacted for comment, Mr Sibanda said he was still the leader of the church in Zimbabwe.
He alleged that Supt-Gen Lee and the whole church had not followed the constitution and so his expulsion was unprocedural.

“You can go to the church in Pelandaba there and ask people and they will tell you the position. Yes he (Supt-Gen Lee) wrote the letter and I received it but they did not follow the constitution,” said Mr Sibanda.
“What he says cannot be followed because it was nullified by the courts, it does not work that way.”

Asked what he would do if the church took legal action against him, Mr Sibanda said: “It is up to them to do so.”
Mr Shumba and his wife Sibusisiwe built Elite in 1999 after entering into a lease agreement with the church to use Green Gables Farm where they were to run and operate a secondary school.

The school was then evicted from the premises in 2009 by the Deputy Sheriff after the church, led by Mr Sibanda, then Superintendent of Southern Africa, was granted an order by a High Court judge after the school authorities had fallen into rent arrears.

Green Gables High School was then opened in January 2010 and started using the same premises.
When Green Gables High School advertised in the Press in January 2010 for pupils to enrol, the church board also put an advertisement warning people against enrolling their children there as the school was illegal. It also urged the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture not to authorise it. The school went on to register and is an examination centre.

Mr Shumba has since written letters, which Chronicle has in its possession, after receiving a letter, a copy of which is also in Chronicle’s possession from the Supt-Gen Lee outlining the church’s position on Mr Sibanda, who was reportedly relieved of his duties as the church’s representative for Zimbabwe.

The letters are dated 3 and 4 January 2012 and addressed to Green Gables High School and Mr Sibanda and copied to the Board of Governors for Green Gables High School, the head of the school, Mr Onias Gumbo, who is now the church’s Superintendent for Southern Africa, board members for the church, the High Court, the board of Elite High School, Supt-Gen Lee and his legal representative making his intention to sue known.

“Kindly note that since you took over literally everything that belonged to Elite High School which I hope you took inventory of, you shall be required to pay rentals for use of such property from the day of opening to date,” he said.
He alleged that the section of the church led by Mr Sibanda had no authority to evict him from the premises and had a hidden agenda shown in the way he said they reduced the lease agreement they signed in 1999 from 20 years to five years in 2005.

Mr Shumba said what was painful was that the church ignored the developments he made at the premises while building the school and that he would engage external auditors to ascertain how money was being used at the school.
Mr Shumba alleges that his eviction by Mr Sibanda was unlawful because Mr Sibanda had been relieved of his duties as leader of the church in Southern Africa.

He said he would not sue the church but Mr Sibanda and his entire school board.
“I intend to sue you in your personal capacities and your entire associate so-called board of trustees for wrongfully evicting Elite High School misrepresenting the church claiming you had the Power of Attorney. This clearly shows that you misled the courts deliberately violating the authority of people who appointed you who had at the time informed you to step down,” he said.

Now Mr Shumba wants Mr Sibanda to show in court, documents to prove that he was acting on behalf of the church when he evicted his school.
He said he wants Mr Sibanda and the school to pay Elite High School all the money he used to build the school with interest and damages that occurred due to eviction.

The high school, which enrolled about 300 pupils, was evicted from the farm in October 2009 and nearly upset national examinations, as pupils were about to start writing.
In November 2011 Supt-Gen Lee wrote to Mr Sibanda confirming his ex-communication from the church while referring to him as a rebel and insubordinate and advised him to abide by the church’s constitution for him to reconcile with the church.

This followed a meeting the two parties held in Bulawayo when Supt-Gen Lee had visited the country and was advised by High Court Judge Justice Martin Makonese to settle the matter outside the courts.
Although Supt Gumbo refused to comment on the issue saying he could not discuss church issues over the phone, one of the members of the board confirmed that Mr Sibanda was ex-communicated in 2005 and said the school was operating           illegally.

He said he had personally delivered the letter of dismissal to Mr Sibanda although he (Mr Sibanda) was adamant that he would not leave his post.

“The school that we know as a church is Elite High School. Green Gables is operating illegally and that board is not known by the headquarters of the church in Oregon because Mr Sibanda who appointed it was ex-communicated in 2005,” he  said.

“I can confirm that there is a letter from Oregon and I personally delivered it to his house. They are doing bad things claiming to be representing the church, which is not true. They are running a parallel organisation which the church does not recognise.”