Harare Magistrate Ethel Chichira today declared Lena Mlambo, a supervisor at the Office of the Registrar of Deeds, a hostile witness after she changed her statement in court.
The sentence was handed down after Mlambo changed her statement during questioning on Thursday.
Mlambo is a key witness in a case in which three suspects face charges of forging the title deeds of former Education Minister Dzingai Mutombuka’s $600,000 Chisebete house in Harare, before selling it for $140,000 but only $45,000 was paid. .
The house was sold to Harrison Marang and his wife, Demetria Zieringa.
By declaring her hostile, it means that Mlambo will be isolated and her evidence ignored. She may also be arrested for giving a false statement to police.
During interrogation at the Harare Magistrates Court, Mlambo accused police of threatening her and making her first statement under duress.
Mlambo told police that she withdrew Mutombuka’s title deed from the bond office and handed it over to her friend Prosper Bezwarek who is one of the suspects. Bizwark held the bond for a week before returning it after changing ownership of the name to Jonah Ngome’s freehold name.
However, Mlambo changed her statement in court on Thursday and said she did not know the suspects, forcing prosecutor Zebediah Boffo to ask the judge to declare her a hostile witness.
In her statement to police, she admitted giving the document to Bezwark, who kept it at home for a week before returning it to the title deeds office.
Justice Chichira adjourned the matter and the trial is expected to continue on 27 February 2024, with the Registrar of Companies and Deeds expected to testify on that day.
After forging the title deed in the name of the fugitive Juna Njum, Bezwark and Tatenda Wakatama put the Chisibet house up for sale. Masvingo mirror
