From The Daily Mirror, 14 February

Officers from the Air Force of Zimbabwe have ordered new farmers settled at Shuri Shuri Farm in Chegutu, Mashonaland West, to vacate the property. The farmers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said officers had also ordered them not to build permanent structures on the farm, their home for the past three years, and had been told “to go back where you came from”. In interviews with The Daily Mirror, the new farmers said they felt betrayed by the fact that they had been encouraged to move onto the property in 2000, only to be told now to pave way for the airmen. The number of affected families could not be immediately established. Shuri Shuri Farm “ previously known as Suri Suri “ has a number of sub-farms, such as Mukuti, Murrah Purra and Cornucopia, and lies near an army base bearing the same name. “There are laws which protect us against eviction, because we occupied the farm as part of jambanja (land reform programme). Now we are being told to pave way for some other people. The soldiers should have moved in themselves in 2000. It™s like we were being used so that they benefit,” said one of those affected. Mashonaland West governor Nelson Samkange yesterday confirmed that the air force wanted the farm, and added that if those settled there refuse to move, they would be going against government policy.

He could not state if there was any other land identified to resettle the farmers. “The government is saying all defence bases should have additional land around them. The people must be resettled somewhere and in this case, they will not be thrown into the streets. If they refuse to move, they would be acting against government policy,” said Samkange. On accusations by people that the air force had used them to take the land from the previous owners, the governor said: “If war veterans liberated the country, they cannot say it™s their land. They took it for all Zimbabweans.” No comment could be obtained from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces yesterday. An officer who answered its public relations department mobile phone said they would be in a position to do so today. A sizeable number of families in Mashonaland West, who occupied farms beginning in 2000, have been issued with eviction notices. At New England Farm, more than 40 families are battling against eviction in both the High Court in Harare and the Chinhoyi Magistrate™s Court after government ordered that they should pave way for State House employees. Last week, the mayor of Chinhoyi, Risipa Kapesa, told The Daily Mirror that his council would soon take over 14 farms around the town for expansion purposes. One of the 14 farms had been allocated to businessman Phillip Chiyangwa, currently in remand prison on espionage charges.

Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com