UK: Protests at land grab Dr’s clinic

via UK: Protests at land grab Dr’s clinic – NewZimbabwe 27 October 2015

A HANDFUL of activists staged a protest Tuesday at the Nottingham clinic of a Zimbabwe-born British medical doctor who is at the centre of a farm takeover dispute in Zimbabwe.

The activists were drawn from pro-democracy group Zimbabwe Vigil and its sister organisation, the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) .

Dr. Sylvester Nyatsuro, who runs Willows Medical Centre in Nottingham, is accused of trying to force white farmer, Phillip Rankin, 57, off his 2000-acre property in Mashonaland Central.

Nyatsuro is said to be related to President Robert Mugabe.

“It was a lively day with drumming, singing and dancing,” Zimbabwe Vigil said Tuesday evening.

The group handed out to leaflets which read, “Dr Nyatsuro has lived in the UK for more than 10 years and is a British citizen.

“He is a GP not a farmer but, as a relative of Mugabe’s wife, he has grabbed the opportunity to steal the farm from Mr Rankin, who bought it with the approval of the Mugabe regime.

“The Rankin family will not receive compensation and will lose their tobacco crop worth £240,000. If Dr Nyatsuro gets away with this theft Mr Rankin should be entitled to seize the GP’s properties in the UK.”

Dr Nyatsuro has denied using force to take over the tobacco farm and insists that he is entitled to the land.

“Dr Nyatsuro became eligible to take possession of a farm in Zimbabwe in a lawful manner in full accordance with the requirements of the Government’s Minister of Land and Rural Settlement,” his lawyers said recently.

“This means that he had to wait several years before becoming eligible to take the area of land in question. There is no question of Dr Nyatsuro being given undue preference.”

Rankin says he has nowhere to go if the farm is taken.

“I have nowhere to go. I’m a Zimbabwean citizen and my wife is third-generation Zimbabwean,” the farmer said in interviews with the media.

“I bought the farm from the Government for 110,000 dollars and it’s now worth between 400,000 and 600,000 dollars. If he takes the last bit, I have nothing left.”