The rationale was that the settlement was in a poor state and could give the country a bad image in the eyes of the visiting international delegates. But attempts to evict settlers from the farm hit a brick wall – thanks to Mbuya Chinyuku’s untiring efforts to appeal to the courts of law to oppose these unlawful evictions.
“When government first came in 1991 to evict us we went to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights who assisted us by taking government to court. The courts ruled in our favour and we stayed put for more than 10 years before their second attempt,” she said in a recent interview.
In 2004 government again told them to leave the settlement. “The whole community congregated and discussed a possible way forward. We were betrayed by our male colleagues who back tracked and even accused us of resisting government orders. But that did not make us lose heart. We formed four groups of women and went to look for Human Rights organisations that could help us. After spending the whole day in town we finally got to the Amnesty International Zimbabwe offices where we met with Obert Chinhamo. When we got into his office we started crying.
Volunteered
“We narrated our story to him and he picked up his phone and called Ignatius Chombo who was the Local Government Minister and asked him where he wanted us to go,” Mbuya Chinyuku said.
Amnesty International advised them to form a committee to be responsible for litigating against the government. “I volunteered to be the chairperson of that committee, which then took government to court and again the courts ruled in our favour. We stayed for some months before heavily armed police details besieged the farm .They destroyed our dwellings. They used tear smoke and in the process we lost at least four members of our community who succumbed to the tear smoke. People became angry. I recall that one police man also died when people were now retaliating,” she narrated.
The battle took for some hours and they were instructed by their lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to stay put.
“We slept in the cold for many days .Our food was soaked because it was during the rainy season and a lot of people got sick because of the bad weather conditions. After some days some donors came with some huge tents that could house 200 families. We stayed for months in the tents before we built structures again.”
Mbuya Chinyuku said the police and some state security agents would come to the farm looking for her on a daily basis. “At one point some officials from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights advised me to surrender my committee chairperson position, but I was encouraged not to do so by Amnesty International employee Chinhamo who was now out of the country. He would phone me encouraging me not to surrender. He would tell me that they were behind me,” she said.
Operation Murambatsvina
Mbuya Chinyuku emerged as the face of resistance when the government embarked on the worldwide condemned “Operation Murambatsvina” in 2005. She confronted the government head-on and vigorously challenged the cruel and inhuman manner in which the destruction of homes was carried out.
“After destroying our dwellings again in November 2004 the police came with trucks and forced people to leave the farm. Some resisted and some were taken to Hopley Farm. Some were even taken back to their original rural homes while others were dumped in the bush. I was taken to Hopley and there the victimisation increased.
“I remember one day while seated at my new dwellings at Hopley. I was approached by some man and said I was wanted by Minister Chombo at the local offices there. I met him and he accused me of selling out the country to the west and threatened me with death. I resisted his threats and told him to kill me,” she said.
Celebrated
Recognising her resilience the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights last week celebrated her while commemorating this year’s International Women’s Day under the theme ‘Empowering Women Empowering Humanity: Picture It’. ZLHR chairperson Beatrice Mtetwa said Mbuya Chinyuku was an outstanding woman. Zimbabwe Peace Project National Director Jestina Mukoko has also been recognised by ZLHR as a notable Women Human Rights Defender. She told the event that the state was not comfortable with people who stood up for their rights.
“I do not know why the state thinks that we will be fighting against them. We do not intend to fight against the state but to remind them that there are people whose rights are being violated. But by just reminding them to recognise and respect people’s rights you will find yourself in jail,” she said
It was noted at the event that nearly 1,400 female rights activists were arrested for litigating for political, social and economic rights in the past 24 months and they were all assisted by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Post published in: Analysis