A housing scheme built on hope is torn apart by allegations of theft, political patronage, and open warfare in the streets of Mutare
by BERNARD CHIKETO
THE messengers of the law arrived at Number 29, Fifth Avenue, on a Monday morning, armed with a court order and accompanied by five police officers. They did not get past the door.
A thug hired by Wilson Masokovere confronted them, his voice rising to a challenge captured on a short video that would soon circulate through Zimbabwe’s anxious grapevine. “Are you the messenger of court?” he demanded. Then came the warning: “You want to start a war now!”
The war, however, had already begun. It had been raging for months—perhaps years—in the eastern city of Mutare, and it had long since ceased to be a mere labour dispute.
At its heart lies a simple question that has entangled churches, courts, political factions and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC): what happened to the millions of dollars entrusted to Destiny of Afrika Network (DANet), an ambitious faith-based housing scheme promising 100,000 units by 2030?
The Reverend Apostle Dr Obediah Musindo, DANet’s founder and president, says he has been asking that question since 2021. The answers he received, he claims, were defiance, obstruction and ultimately a campaign to hive off the organisation’s Manicaland operations into a personal fiefdom.
Masokovere, his former projects manager for the province, tells a different story—one of legitimate work, political machination and a founder who negotiates with one hand while wielding court orders with the other.
A question of millions
The figures, if Rev Dr Musindo’s allegations are accurate, are staggering. He claims that the organisation cannot account for millions of US dollars received by Masokovere over nearly fifteen years. When pressed for financial records stretching back to 2013, Masokovere allegedly provided nothing.
When an audit team was dispatched from Harare back in 2021, they were physically blocked from entering the Mutare office—bouncers hired to bar the door.
The wealth accumulated, Musindo alleges, tells its own story. “He amassed trucks, over twenty houses in Harare’s northern suburbs, and a shopping mall in Chiredzi—overnight,” the pastor claims.
The implication is unmistakable: that funds intended for housing projects found their way into private pockets.
Masokovere has not responded directly to these allegations. But through his actions, he has mounted a different kind of defence: a sustained campaign to position himself not as a subordinate manager but as an autonomous power in Manicaland.
In August 2025, he issued a memorandum calling for an “Extra-Ordinary Meeting”. He signed it as “Chairman”—a position legally occupied by Rev Dr Musindo himself—and stamped it with DANet’s official date stamp. It was, in effect, a declaration of independence.
The political shield
Rev Dr Musindo alleges that this defiance was buttressed by a calculated political strategy. Masokovere, he claims, bought his way into the ruling Zanu PF’s Mutare district structures, seeking to use proximity to power as a shield against accountability.
The allegation is difficult to prove but plausible in a climate where political connections can render court orders negotiable and law enforcement tentative.
The claim gains credence from subsequent events.
When the Messenger of Court arrived with five police officers to enforce an eviction order on February 11th, they were met not with compliance but with threats. Bouncers hired by Masokovere’s faction blocked entry. Trucks carrying groups armed with machetes were reportedly brought to the site.
The police did not press the matter.
A meeting, an ambush
The conflict might have been resolved differently. On January 13th, more than a month after Masokovere’s dismissal had been communicated, the two men met through their lawyers. The circumstances of that meeting are now contested.
Masokovere claims that Musindo approached him seeking audience, and that they reached an agreement: there would be a verification exercise and an audit. He says he was preparing to cooperate when a messenger of court arrived with the High Court interdict.
Rev Dr Musindo tells a different story. He says the courts gave notice and he again ignored.
Of the meeting he claims that Masokovere’s lawyer reached out to him—not the reverse—and he has the evidence of the lawyer’s letter. He only agreed to meet as a gesture of goodwill.
The meeting quickly sunk, he says, on impossible demands. Masokovere allegedly insisted that he would not be placed under suspension during any audit. “He wanted to investigate himself,” Rev Dr Musindo told this publication.
The competing narratives reflect a deeper truth: that trust between the two men has evaporated entirely.
A divided house
The practical consequences are stark. DANet now operates two power centres in Mutare, each claiming legitimacy. One office, overseen by Rev Dr Musindo, handles new projects. Another, presided over by Masokovere, manages earlier schemes. The overlap is substantial—the foundation for new projects was laid years ago, with Masokovere indicating that efforts to secure the land began five years past.
Now there is a radio commercial announcing that Masokovere was fired and some of his decisions over the years have been illegal. For those who have invested their savings in the promise of a home, the situation is terrifying.
Housing schemes of this nature rely entirely on trust: trust that contributions are safe, that land titles are secure, that leadership disputes will not leave contributors stranded. With shepherds tearing at one another, the flock can only wait and worry.
The organisation has called on ZACC to investigate claims that corporate funds were transferred into personal accounts and that residential stands were improperly allocated to individuals within the judiciary, police and security sectors.
Rev Dr Musindo’s language has grown increasingly blunt. “He regards himself as a mafia in Manicaland,” he said. “He only responds to the law when he is cornered.”
A test for the state
The disciplinary authority’s findings, delivered on December 5th by Cosam Gohori, could not have been clearer. Masokovere was found guilty of insubordination, wilful disobedience and gross incompetence.
His refusal to attend the hearing, Gohori noted, amounted to a waiver of his right to be heard, citing precedents from the Labour Court, High Court and Supreme Court.
He has not contested this December 4, 2025 disciplinary authority ruling.
But legal findings and physical realities are different things. The High Court interdict obtained on February 11th orders Masokovere to vacate the premises and cease interfering with DANet’s operations. Yet he remains. The Messenger of Court was turned away.
The police appear not to have intervened. Rev Dr Musindo is livid. “I am shocked at the brazen intimidation of court officials and law enforcement agents with no consequence,” he said.
Rev Dr Musindo said this was not the first time Masokovere has exposed his violent side. He said he hopes a that there would be a repeat of year 2022. Auditors from head office were ‘mercilessly beaten’ with some of them still nursing their injuries with the thugs untouched.
At law, the police’s mandate in this matter is to accompany and protect judicial officials and will only begin to consider contempt of court issues after official complaints by the aggrieved party, police says. Manicaland police acting spokesperson Wiseman Chinyoka said they await an official report of complaint from DANet.
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