Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. TENSIONS at the disputed Springs Farm in Mashonaland East province have taken a new twist with reports indicating that some of the displaced farmers are being harassed by unknown people, NewsDay has established.
Among the victims is retired army major Alfred Chademana, who fled his home after suspected robbers besieged the property, stealing household goods and farming equipment.
Investigations have corroborated that Chademana, one of the farmers forcibly relocated to make way for businessman Billy Rautenbach’s Marimba Residential Properties Limited, abandoned his home at the farm.
Speaking to NewsDay yesterday, Chademana said: “They took everything — farming tools, furniture, even food supplies. I no longer feel safe staying there.”
The incident adds to growing unrest over the government’s controversial reallocation of the 600-hectare farm, which had been occupied by war veterans and local farmers who include prominent people like former Chitungwiza mayor and Zanu PF central committee member Joseph Macheka, retired army major Alfred Chademana and war veterans identified as Cdes Chikomo, Mangisa and Muza who have been there for over 20 years.
Despite a pending High Court challenge set for hearing tomorrow, the land was transferred to Rautenbach on June 5, leaving former occupants in limbo.
Affected farmers, including Macheka and war veteran families, accuse authorities of sidelining them in favour of Rautenbach, whose claim to the land has been questioned. Chademana, whose offer letter was withdrawn in 2024, said appeals to ministers Anxious Masuka (Agriculture) and Daniel Garwe (Local Government and Public Works) yielded nothing.
In an interview yesterday, Macheka’s son Tich questioned the government’s stance on the land reform programme.
“The government is paying lip service to issues of land. War veterans are now losing their land to land barons. Land barons are the order of the day. People are sold land only for their houses to be demolished later.
“Perpetrators are never found. Land owners and recipients of land under the land reform programme are having their land withdrawn and given to the politically connected or powerful. We applaud Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s speech that the day of reckoning is near for corrupt briefcase businessmen but such words do not mean anything if people are allowed to have their way and compensated for land they never owned to the tune of 1 300 hectares, taken from the very same people who fought for this land,” he said.
“Why, as a country, are we not able to celebrate and empower our people? Young farmers at Springs Farm who have excelled and have been given national recognition are being victimised. Why are war veterans not empowered through urban development when it encroaches on their farms,” he said.
He said the latest development could affect President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legacy.
“The Zanu PF government was born out of the liberation struggle, but we are witnessing the same government failing to protect war veterans. The legacy of Zanu PF as a revolutionary party and a people’s party is in trouble when such anti-people and self-serving decisions are made by its office bearers,” he said.
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