Posted on 08/29/2002 5:11:33 AM PDT by Clive
FIFTY-SIX commercial farmers in Mashonaland West province yesterday won a reprieve in the High Court in Harare to continue farming in the face of the ongoing forced evictions from their properties.
But their lawyer told the court he had received a telephone call threatening to kill him if he continued to represent the farmers. The High Court set aside the Section 8 the government issued for the compulsory acquisition of their farms by 10 August.
Judge Benjamin Paradza gave the directives after the government conceded the compulsory acquisition orders it had issued were invalid and of no effect. “I will grant the order as amended in all these matters,” said the judge.
Paradza’s colleague, Justice Charles Hungwe, last Wednesday postponed the granting of the orders, although the State had conceded that 38 of the 56 eviction orders were not served according to the procedures and were thus invalid.
The State had failed to oppose the applications, setting aside the evictions in the remaining cases, within the prescribed time.
Nelson Mutsonziwa of the Attorney-General’s Office had asked for a delay, saying if the orders were granted last week, there would be serious security problems for the farmers, the new settlers and their properties. Mutsonziwa yesterday said the government abided by the responses it made early this month to the farmers, mostly from Hurungwe district, challenging the validity of the acquisition orders. The responses stated that the orders were of no force and effect. “The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement abides by the responses filed of record and consents to the orders being sought by the applicants,” Mutsonziwa said. He said the government had consented to the granting of the orders because it failed to serve the Section 5 Preliminary Notice on the real rights owners registered against the properties before it issued the Section 8 Eviction Notice orders.
Justice Charles Hungwe early this month ruled that a mortgaged farm could not be taken over for resettlement by the State without first informing the institution holding the bond.
Jeremy Callow, who represented 46 of the farmers, yesterday informed Paradza that he had received a threatening telephone call at his home on Monday morning, in connection with the land cases.
“At 6:25 am on Monday I received an anonymous threatening phone call,” he said. “I was told that if I was seen again in Karoi I would be killed. “As an officer of the court I want it noted down. One is sadly reminded of the regrettable incident a few weeks ago involving magistrates in Chipinge.” The Chipinge Magistrates' Courts were closed for two days after suspected Zanu PF supporters attacked the resident magistrate accusing him of giving judgments favouring
Some of the farmers Callow was representing yesterday are from the Karoi area. Callow, who has already successfully defended several other farmers in Karoi as well as the Chinhoyi farmers who were accused of attacking resettled people, vowed to continue representing his clients.
After Paradza's order, Jenni Williams, the spokeswoman for Justice for Agriculture (JAG), a militant splinter of the Commercial Farmers Union, said: “We are always happy when we receive a legal victory as long as it remains a legal victory on the ground.”
Honey and Blanckenberg represented nine other farmers while Advocate Harry Simpson appeared for one.
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