Since Tuesday,
the elderly and frail Madziire has had to brave the cold weather together with
his wife and children after the Sheriff’s department evicted him from the
church cottage which he had occupied for the past 29 years.
Camped just
outside the church in the open, Madziire has vowed not to move until the sticky
issues surrounding his “forced retirement is resolved”.
Speaking to
NewsDay Weekender on Wednesday, Madziire said he felt cheated by the church,
which he served selflessly for close to 30 years.
“Last year, the
church advised me that they wanted to retire me but we did not agree on the
gratuity due to me,” a bitter Madziire said. He had been earning a paltry US$25
per month, which was only reviewed to US$32 last year.
He said he had
always raised the issue of his salary, but was never addressed well.
“The church
grounds are vast, but I performed my duties without complaining. So, when they
offered me US$300 as gratuity, I refused because that was daylight robbery,”
Madziire said.
Since last
year, the Madziires were locked in a bitter fight with the church and even
engaged legal help. “After engaging a lawyer, we were offered US$1 800, but
this is still not enough for all those years.”
Also at the
centre of the battle is a 300m stand in Norton which the couple bought and paid
for in full.
“These stands
were under the church arrangement and we paid at the diocese the full amount,
which is over US$5 000,” he said.
“But to date,
we do not have any proof to say we own the stand and this is one of the reasons
why we will not leave until we have our title deeds.”
Madziire said
the church had even promised to build him a house at the Norton stand as a way
of thanking him for his loyal service, but reneged on its pledge.
“We are now
being told that we need to top up the money by over US$3 000. Where will I get
the money now? I have children who are still in school. One is in third year at
university while the other is in Form 1.”
The family is
now desperate and pleading for help from well-wishers. “We have nothing and
nowhere to go. We thought we would go to our stand upon retirement and build
our home, but look at the money they offered us,” said Madziire’s wife,
Petronella Dube.
St Peters
reverend-in-charge Noel Magaya referred all queries to the church lawyer,
Patony Musendo, who maintained that the church had acted within the confines of
the law.
“The church opted to retire Madziire because he was no longer able to perform his duties. He was also given notice to vacate the cottage by December 31 last year, but he was adamant,” Musendo said.
He said when
Madziire was finally evicted, they even summoned his relatives, who urged him
to leave the church grounds, but he
refused.
“The church was
willing to engage his other son to take over from his father, but he refused,”
Musendo said.
However,
Madziire said his son was told that the post required someone with five O-Level
passes, which he did not have.
“They told him
to apply like everyone else, but that was not what we had agreed upon. They
have since employed someone else and said we needed to move,” he said.
On the Norton
stands, Musendo said these were managed by the diocese and, therefore, the
authorities at St Peters had no influence on the issue. Newsday
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