Activists urge UK to deport farm grab doc

via Activists urge UK to deport farm grab doc – NewZimbabwe 18/10/2015 by Sechaba Lunkunku

ZIMBABWEANS living in the UK have upped their calls for White Hall to take action against a British doctor who is attempting to seize a farm in Mashonaland Central with a demonstration planned for the next “few days”.

Newzimbabwe.com reported last week that Dr. Sylvester Nyatsuro, who is related to First Lady Grace Mugabe, is trying to evict a white tobacco farmer from his property, claiming it was allocated to him by the government.

Following the report, Nyasturo’s wife, Veronica, said her husband was inundated with death threatening messages and demands for his immediate deportation for alleged attempts to stampede Phillip Rankin, 57, off the 2000-acre property.

Since then, more have joined the bandwagon calling for action against the Nottingham-based GP who is both a British and a Zimbabwean citizen.

Zimvigil and the Zimbabwe Action Forum led the calls at the weekend, saying the dispute over the farm was the “latest incident in which Zimbabwean exiles given refuge in the UK have revealed the hypocrisy evidenced in the growth of Zanu PF activities in Britain.”

In a letter sent to the Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group of the National Health Service, the vigil urged authorities to “investigate” Nyatsuro and “take appropriate action”.

The vigil said “Rankin bought the farm after Independence with the “consent of the Mugabe authorities but since then they have encouraged the takeover of white-owned farms without compensation.

“This has led to the collapse of agriculture and growing poverty. The UK and the US have recently pledged £30 million in new food relief but this will still leave widespread hunger.”

The activist group said it was also sending the letter to the General Medical Council, the Department of Health as well as the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Zimbabwe Action Forum said it was planning a demonstration in-front of Nyatsuro’s surgery to give his patients a chance to air their view on his “racism”.

Nyatsuro moved to the UK in 2003 and is now a British citizen. He runs a slimming clinic- Willows Medical Centre – in Nottingham.

Press reports claim Nyatsuro used his close connections with the first family to muscle his way into the productive Mashonaland Central farm which has a $360,000 worth tobacco crop on the ground.

The couple is further said to have visited the Muzarabani farm last month along with a posse of menacing Zanu PF youths and ordered Rankin to vacate the property.

On his part, Rankin has vowed he will not give way to “a British citizen”.

But Veronica has insisted that the couple’s alleged violent tendencies towards the farmer were all cooked up by Rankin to whip up emotions in Britain and put pressure on them to give up the farm.