High Court Judge Justice Rogers Manyangadze on Wednesday stopped the eviction of 800 families, who reside in Norton in Mashonaland West province, after some former farm workers challenged a directive for their eviction issued by government.
The government had on 11 January through officials from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development & the District Administrator for Chegutu, who were accompanied by some Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers & officials from the Environmental Management Agency, visited Plot Number 46 at Skea Farm, where they convened a meeting & advised the former farm workers & their families to vacate from the farm within 3 days.
The officials from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development & the District Administrator for Chegutu reportedly read a message from their mobile phones indicating that they had been sent to deliver a message from President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Faced with imminent eviction, the former farm employees, who were once employed by Martin Skea, a white commercial farmer, who owned Skea Farm, before the farm was acquired by government during the land grab exercise, engaged Rutendo Muchenje of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who on 15 January, filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court.
They were seeking to interdict Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka, the Administrator for Chegutu & the Officer Commanding ZRP Norton District, from evicting the former farm workers without obtaining a court order authorising them to do so.
The former farm workers contended that they are of old age & do not have alternative accommodation hence they will be rendered homeless during the current rainy season.
On Wednesday, Justice Manyangadze barred Hon. Dr Masuka, the District
District Administrator for Chegutu & the Officer Commanding ZRP Norton District from evicting them & also to stop them from demolishing their houses.
Zwnews
