via Mugabe aide wreaks havoc – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 6, 2014
SCORES of families are set to be evicted from Centenary Farm in Figtree today after it was seized by deputy chief secretary in the Office of the President Ray Ndhlukula at the weekend.
Farm owner David Connolly said Ndhlukula defied a High Court ruling and descended on the farm last Saturday under the watchful eye of a senior police officer.
He reportedly said he would not respect the court order because Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku ruled that whites could not appear in court on land matters.
Connolly said Ndhlukula’s wife told his workers they had until today to vacate the farm.
The workers were given an option to stay and work for the “new owners”, but were warned that the Ndhlukulas would also bring some employees.
“This involves a work force of 14 men, nine women and their incumbent families numbering a total of approximately 75 dependants,” Connolly said.
“Among these workers were men and women who have worked on the farm since 1963 and have resided there the entire time that they were in my employ.”
Connolly would also be forced to abandon crops worth millions of dollars and his 94 head of cattle.
“Ndhlukula told the man in charge of the irrigation to turn off the irrigation pump,” he said.
“The pump was at the time irrigating half a hectare of tomatoes (this amounts to 65 tonnes), 19 000 cabbages and 500 000 onions.
“I spoke to him at the gate to my farmhouse and informed him that he was in contempt of court. He said to me: ‘Don’t raise that issue again’.
“He said that this ‘was now his property’ and that he would be doing things ‘his way’ and that his workers would come and remove my personal belongings and household effects on to his trucks and take them away.”
Ndhlukula was not reachable for comment yesterday.
However, Connolly said the police officer commanding Bulilima Mangwe district, a Chief Superintendent Samuriwo, first informed him about the invasion on Saturday.
Samuriwo reportedly turned up at Centenary Farm during the invasion and was shown the court order (number HC 1204/14) issued on June 27 against Ndhlukula, but said it was not his duty to enforce it.
According to the order, Ndhlukula was barred “from taking occupation of, or bringing cattle on to the piece of land, namely a farm known as Subdivision A of Centenary, measuring 1 304, 544 hectares situate in the Bulilima District”.
Connolly had approached the High Court after Ndhlukula’s wife had threatened to move into the farm with her workers in June 2014.
He said on Saturday, Ndhlukula had told him Chief Justice Chidyausiku had said that “white people could not come before the courts of Zimbabwe regarding land matters”.
The government has in recent weeks claimed that it has put a stop on farm invasions.
COMMENTS
It would be funny, if it was not so sad. A Bandit Nation indeed. Really, words will never remove the Criminal Elite from the country.
A Bandit Nation indeed. Sorry I do not agree. A bandit ruling Party and Government yes. The Majority people of Zimbabwe do not subscribe to this banditry or to this rule. This is apparent by the lack of celebration through out the country after the last so called “ELECTION VICTORY”. Dabengwas farm is also being invaded. Court orders have been ignored. The signs will suggest that Zanu has totally lost control of those that still support them. Within the coming months there will be a lot of skirmishes up and down the country. This may yet be the downfall of Zanu. This may be the window of opportunity starting to open. As the window begins to open the opposition continues to try to destroy each other. Zunde remains visible invisible.
I meant to say Zunde remains visibly invisible.
Forget ZUNDE, its Shona tribalistic outfit. Its not national. Anyone who says their starting point is looking into the future, and not the past when so many of our people have no birth records because of the Gukurahundi who killed their parents; I am sorry, real, proud and self assured Matebelelan people can not be part of such parochial initiatives. Some of us believe in the policy of ‘nothing for us, without us’. We further believe in that the past informs the present, and the present informs the future. There cannot be a present without the past. As those who have gone before us taught us, “those whocan not learn from history, are bound to repeat it”. There is noways one can avoid the mistakes of the past, if they pretend the past does not exist, but simply look into the future. Ngiqedile!
Theft is theft, whether a loaf of bread, a farm or business and our Lord God Almighty does not approve of this, read from the Holy Bible Micah 2 verse 1-7……..pray for deliverance our Zimbabwe
Shut up you religious nutter
Zimpatriot, you seem to be closest to God and his will than any other living creature, will you be so kind sir holy of holies, to prophesy about the Pioneer Column and Cecil John Rhodes? Did God approve of both at the time? Is there a verse in that bible that supports the British BSAP pioneer column’s march from cape town to Cairo? Please prophesy on our behalf, we admit we are a nation of hopeless heathens and sinners, except you your holy highness.
In this matter, if the Highourt papers that Cornely holds prevent the accused from bringing his cattle, then the accused can simply move in with nothing more than his bag of clothes and use the 94 herd already live and grazing there. What appears to be in question here is what to, and what not to bring to the farm, not that the farm shouldnot be taken. We kindly ask Zimpatriot to consult his God whilst the accused proceeds with alarming speed to take over that piece of land. Until we receive prophesy to the contrary from Zimeye,we continue to believe the Pioneer Column’s march due north resulted in the theft of African Land, and that land must be handed back. Now is the time, and accused is doing what is fit.
Its now a free for all. Total chaos in the land between the two rivers!!
This crook was already on our ” list “. We now add his family relatives kids. They will soon lose all
Exactly this crook needs to understand what happened in the French revolution, he will get what is coming to him.
hey Ray get off that farm ONE word to Dabengwa, oil and water will never mix
Yes, Sanctions have destroyed the economy – so they say. What some kind of baboons we have as leaders ngempela!!