A group of homeless people living with disabilities, who were evicted from a Cheshire flat in Harare’s avenues areas a over a week ago, has dismissed as false claims by the Leonard Cheshire Zimbabwe Board of Trustees that they once rejected an offer of flats and loans extended to them by the organisation.
They said they never received such an offer only to hear about it in the media.
In 1948, Leonard Cheshire from United Kingdom, took a dying man who had nowhere to go into his home.
With no money, he nursed the man and they became friends.
His kindness saw many more people flocking to him for help, hence he came up with the idea of assisting the disabled and the concept spread to other countries.
In 1981, a Leonard Cheshire home was established in Harare, with the objective of advocating for the rights and empowerment of people with disabilities to achieve an inclusive society.
The trust acquired properties which were meant to assist and accommodate the disabled, among them the Masterton Cheshire home in the Avenues in Harare.
However, people living with disabilities were recently evicted from the home with the Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust now managing the property saying the people’s stay at the institution was not meant to be permanent as it a transit home.
The executive director of the current trust, Greatermans Chivandire defended the eviction move, saying the occupants at the flat had become indisciplined, forcing the organisation to engage the courts for their eviction.
He added that the tenants were once offered flats along Willowvale road but they turned down the offer.
Wearing a sad face, wheelchair bound Barbra Katonha, one of the persons whose name is on the list of those who are said to have rejected the offer, expressed disappointment, saying she never received such an offer.
Lewis Garaba and Robert Chiite whom the board of trustees also claim rejected offers of loans for projects and flats, also dismissed the claims.
The evicted tenants have been staying outside the Cheshire flat for more than a week and after being exposed to cold weather and rain, some who are nursing various health conditions have seen their heath deteriorating.
