High Court clips Chief Murinye’s wings in Riverton Academy Extension battle

MASVINGO – The High Court has ordered a Masvingo chief to stop disrupting the operations of Riverton Academy Extension located in the Murinye/Machingura villages, holding that traditional leaders cannot enforce perceived violations through self-help.

Justice Josephine Zisengwe ruled in favour of Philemon Mutangiri, the responsible authority of Riverton Academy, against Chief Murinye (born Ephias Munodawafa), the traditional leader of the community where the school is situated.

The urgent chamber application arose after Chief Murinye blocked access to the school at the start of the January 2026 school term, preventing parents from dropping off learners.

Mutangiri told the court that the chief had taken the law into his own hands by physically blocking the road leading to the school and threatening further disruptions, prompting him to seek urgent court protection.

Chief Murinye opposed the application, arguing that the school had been constructed without his authority and without the necessary approvals from Masvingo Rural District Council and other statutory bodies.

He maintained that, as a traditional leader, he was empowered by law to prevent what he viewed as the unlawful use of communal land and that his actions were therefore lawful.

The chief also raised several preliminary objections, including that Mutangiri approached the court with “dirty hands”, that he had been wrongly cited in his personal capacity, and that the court could not interdict lawful conduct.

The court dismissed all the preliminary points, finding that they were either abandoned or lacked merit.

In addressing the merits, Justice Zisengwe held that while traditional leaders have statutory responsibilities over communal land, those powers are not unlimited and do not permit self-help.

The court found that even if there were concerns about compliance with legal requirements, the chief was required to pursue lawful channels rather than physically obstructing the school’s operations.

“It is not expected that traditional leaders would physically restrain such owners as there are legal channels in place of protecting the interests of his or her community.

“Anything short of that would be tantamount to promoting self-help which in turn may lead to public disorder.

“The threat to unleash snakes onto the school premises is certainly not one of the legally recognised ways of enforcing a court judgment or of protecting statutory provisions,” Justice Zisengwe stated.

The judge further ruled that Mutangiri had established the requirements for an interim interdict, including a prima facie right to operate the school, a well-grounded apprehension of irreparable harm to learners, and that the balance of convenience favoured allowing the school to continue operating while the dispute is resolved.

“I find that the balance of convenience favours the granting of the application for the reason that the school having already been constructed, and learners having already been enrolled, it would be better to allow lessons to proceed until such a time that the conflicting rights of the parties in this regard are finally and definitively settled,” the judge ruled.

Accordingly, the court ordered Chief Murinye and anyone acting through him to stop blocking access to Riverton Academy Extension and to refrain from interfering with learning and other school activities pending the final determination of the matter.

Mutangiri was represented by Tabana and Marwa, while the respondent was represented by Prichard Attorneys.