Trouble brews on minister's farm

Trouble brews on minister's farm

KEMBO MOHADI

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By Pamenus Tuso

VILLAGERS resettled at Lot 10 in Jopembe block of Beitbridge under the A1 resettlement model have vowed to defy a High Court order to vacate the farm over which Home Affairs minister, Kembo Mohadi claims ownership.

Last month Justice Maphios Cheda, sitting in Bulawayo, ordered the eviction of the 48 settlers, who also claim ownership to the farm. The villagers, who were allocated land on the sprawling farm in 2000, told the Daily Mirror recently that they would not leave the farm despite the interim High Court order.

“We will not accept a situation where a person uses his or her ministerial influence to displace 48 families. We were properly allocated land at the farm and he, Mohadi, is fully aware of the situation,” said one of the affected settlers.

The settlers accused Mohadi of using his ministerial post to grab the 3 000 hectare plot which has got vast citrus fruits left by the farm’s previous owner, one Wheeler.

The settlers, who have since sought political intervention from the Zimbabwe National War Veterans’ Association (ZNWVA) and the ruling party, also accused the minister of circumventing government’s one man one farm policy by registering farms in relatives’ names. Contacted for comment, Mohadi said he was not aware that the settlers on the farm were defying the court for them to vacate it.

“I am not aware of any defiance of a court order and my lawyers have not advised me of such a situation. I will check on that,” said Mohadi. Mohadi rears cattle on the farm. The minister, alongside the late provincial governor for Matabeleland South, Steven Nkomo and the then district administrator for Beitbridge, one Mbedzi, were also the first people to be allocated land at Bea Range but the minister reportedly swapped the land with one Pickson Mudawu under unclear circumstances.

In July last year, settlers illegally occupying Induba farm in Bubi, owned by businessman and publisher, Ibbo Mandaza, and a consortium of other businesspersons defied a high court eviction order that was served to them by Bulawayo deputy sheriff on July 3. During the aborted eviction, the war veterans and the settlers impounded a truck belonging to the deputy sheriff and severely assaulted the farm’s workers before looting property in full view of police details from the nearby Inyathi police.

Mandaza says he has already lost millions of dollars worth of property at the farm.

Mohadi’s lawyer, Mthombeni, Mukwesha and Associates recently told a weekly paper that he was “already working with the deputy sheriff because we have also obtained an eviction order.”
From The Daily Mirror
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