The Seventh Day Adventist Church has denied working with
Sakunda Holdings in the refurbishment of Rock Foundation Medical Centre in Mt
Pleasant, Harare, which the diversified firm wants to turn into a COVID
isolation centre.
Sakunda, owned by fuel mogul Kudakwashe Tagwirei, submitted
a letter to the High Court as part of documentary evidence in its case against
Harare resident Roger Stringer, claiming the church was involved in the
hospital rehabilitation project.
Stringer was contesting the setting up of an infectious
diseases hospital in a residential area. Justice Happias Zhou on Tuesday ruled that the hospital
would be in the public interest and that Stringer failed to prove how the
medical centre would expose him to the deadly coronavirus.
To bolster its case, Sakunda submitted a document to the
High Court which was purportedly signed by Health secretary Agnes Mahomva on
March 27 with instructions to City of Harare health services director Prosper
Chonzi to facilitate the licensing of the hospital as an isolation centre for
COVID-19 patients.
The document insinuated that Sakunda and the Seventh-Day
Adventist Church were in collaboration and wished to assist the government of
Zimbabwe to combat the COVID-19 by leasing the Arundel Medical Hospital as an
isolation centre.
But in a letter dated March 30, Seventh-Day Adventist
Church executive secretary Zibusiso Ndhlovu denied any involvement with
Sakunda, saying matters concerning the development and running of hospitals
were the jurisdiction of union conferences, according to their policy.
Ironically, Tagwirei is a member of the same church.
“To our concern, it has come to our attention, through
social media, that a letter dated March 27, 2020 has purportedly been written
by secretary for Health and Child Care to the City of Harare asserting that
Sakunda Holdings in conjunction with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church are
requesting the use of Arundel Medical Hospital as an isolation centre for
COVID-19 patients,” Ndhlovu said.
“Matters concerning the development and running of the
hospitals are the jurisdiction of union conferences of the Seventh-Day
Adventist Church according to Adventist church policy.
“In this case, it would be the Zimbabwe East Union
Conference (ZEUC). While this appears to be worthy cause, the ZEUC has neither
collaborated with Sakunda Holdings nor the Ministry of Health and Child Care in
this matter. We have also not received any communication to that effect.”
The document also caused arguments at the High Court over
its authenticity, with Stringer’s lawyers Jeremiah Bhamu and Obey Shava
insisting it was fake. Justice Zhou turned down the request by lawyers to file an
affidavit requiring further verifications of the document.
But Mahomva, in her letter that formed the evidence before
the court, wrote: “Sakunda Holdings in conjunction with the Seventh Day
Adventist Church wishes to assist the government of Zimbabwe in combating the
COVID-19 scourge by leasing the Arundel Medical Hospital on behalf of the Ministry
of Health and Child Care for use as an isolation centre,” Newsday
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