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Zimbabwe: Nyanhongo Defies Court Order to Vacate Farm
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Zimbabwe Independent (Harare)
25 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
Wongai Zhangazha
TRANSPORT and Communications deputy minister Hubert Nyanhongo has been accused of defying two High Court orders compelling him to vacate a farm in Burma Valley, Manicaland, he seized from a white-commercial farmer, Johan Vorster.
Nyanhongo took over Eldorado of Gwindingwi Farm in September last year.
Vorster claimed that Nyanhongo illegally took over his banana plantation and during the invasion he lost valuable farming equipment and implements, which included 45 tonnes of fertiliser, 100 tonnes of bananas, six tractors, 15 trailers, a Mazda pick-up truck, irrigation equipment and a seven-tonne CK10 Nissan lorry.
The farmer was granted the first court order against Nyanhongo on July 3 and the second one on July 8 this year by High Court judge, Justice November Mtshiya.
Vorster claimed that a Zanu PF youth militia leader Tendai Mbereko, who was camped at the farm, told him that Nyanhongo would not vacate it.
Nyanhongo yesterday said the Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Didymus Mutasa, allocated him the farm last year under the land reform programme.
In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Vorster said Nyanhongo came to his farm last year disguised as an employee from the Lands ministry.
"He falsely informed me that he was from the Ministry of Lands and was doing a land audit," Vorster said. "I then discovered that Nyanhongo is the deputy Minister of Transport. He approached us again a couple of weeks later indicating that he was now interested in our farm. We checked with the Ministry of Lands in Manicaland and were told that no-one had been given an offer letter for our farm."
After that, Vorster said they heard nothing further from Nyanhongo until June this year when a group of youths militia visited him in Mutare.
"On Saturday June 21 at 8pm I was visited by two people at my house in Mutare, sent by Nyanhongo. They gave me a copy of an offer letter from Nyanhongo for our farm. They also demanded the keys for the sheds, barns and house on the farm," he said. "He placed 26 youth militia on the farm that he brought from Bindura. Our mechanic, Martin Taremba, was assaulted along with Amon Mekani, Sunnyboy Maseunda, Wallas David and Gilbert Chitendo."
He said when he approached the police they refused to help him saying they only reacted to "criminal" cases and not "civil" cases.
On July 3, the High Court in Harare ruled in favour of Vorster and Nyanhongo was given an order to leave the farm.
Vorster said: "The police accompanied me to the farm only to serve the court order with the Messenger of Court. The youth militia leader, Tendai Mbereko, said they would not take heed of the court order unless Nyanhongo himself ordered them to stop operations. Tendai stated that Nyanhongo would protect them.
"A second court order was served on July 8 2008. The police again refused to carry out the court order and would not remove Nyanhongo."
But Nyanhongo yesterday said the court orders stated that they should conduct the handover and takeover in a good manner denying that initially he approached Vorster disguised as a worker from the Ministry of Lands.
Nyanhongo said: "I did approach him personally twice last year telling him that I was going to be the new owner of the farm since my offer letter from the ministry had been delayed. I wanted him to know so that it would not come as a surprise.
"This year I returned to the farm and told him personally that I was the new owner of the farm and I left my people there since most of the farm equipment was vandalised, including bath tubs, toilets and even the bananas were injected with a dangerous chemical.
"That is sabotage and it is illegal, he is a dangerous man. I never stole anything from the farm. Instead he is the one who destroyed almost everything."
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The deputy minister said he would never allow Vorster on the farm.
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| Copyright © 2008 Zimbabwe Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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