Zimbabwe judges just slapped down government officials who tried to steal a farm from black farmers. The High Court ruled that taking Esidakeni farm away from its rightful owners was completely illegal. Justice Bongani Ndlovu said the whole land grab was cruel and made no sense at all. Government ministers wanted to hand over pieces of the 550-hectare property to ruling party bigwigs and secret police agents. The court threw out all those shady land deals and told everyone to back off.
Three business partners bought the farm fair and square back in 2017 through legal channels. Siphosami Malunga, Zephaniah Dlamini and Charles Moyo paid good money for their piece of land near Nyamandlovu. But powerful people wanted to muscle them out of the deal and grab the valuable property for themselves. Government officials published legal notices claiming they needed the farm for resettlement purposes. The whole scheme fell apart when judges looked at the facts and called it a scam.
The court said taking land from black farmers to give to other black farmers made zero sense. Judges pointed out that the original liberation struggle was about getting land back for African people. These farmers already had their land through legitimate business deals. The ruling party secretary Obert Mpofu and his friends will have to find somewhere else to play farmer. Armed guards and crop destruction could not save their illegal land grab scheme.
Three business partners bought the farm fair and square back in 2017 through legal channels. Siphosami Malunga, Zephaniah Dlamini and Charles Moyo paid good money for their piece of land near Nyamandlovu. But powerful people wanted to muscle them out of the deal and grab the valuable property for themselves. Government officials published legal notices claiming they needed the farm for resettlement purposes. The whole scheme fell apart when judges looked at the facts and called it a scam.
The court said taking land from black farmers to give to other black farmers made zero sense. Judges pointed out that the original liberation struggle was about getting land back for African people. These farmers already had their land through legitimate business deals. The ruling party secretary Obert Mpofu and his friends will have to find somewhere else to play farmer. Armed guards and crop destruction could not save their illegal land grab scheme.
