High Court Judge implicated in land grab

Justice Anne-Mary Gowora this week ruled that decisions made by the
SADC Tribunal do not apply and cannot be enforced in Zimbabwe. This
effectively dismissed last year's Tribunal ruling that Zimbabwe's white
farmers had a clear legal title to remain on their farms. The Tribunal
president at the time also ordered the Zimbabwe government to "take all
measures to protect the possessions and ownership" of the farmers' land
– an order which has already been ignored with the recent wave of fresh
invasions of farms across the country. It has since been revealed that
Justice Gowora has a clear personal and political motive to nullify the
Tribunal's ruling, as she was awarded land snatched from farmer Ben
Gilpin. Gilpin, who is part of the organisation Justice for
Agriculture, explained on Thursday that his Headlands farm in
Manicaland, from which he was evicted in 2005, was divided between two
Zanu PF ministers, as well as Gowora and her husband. Gilpin argued
that Gowora clearly "had much to lose by the judgement made by SADC,"
and according to law should have recused herself from the case. He said
that it's almost impossible to find anyone in the judiciary who hasn't
been corrupted by the offer of land.

The Commercial Farmers Union confirmed recently that Attorney General,
Johannes Tomana, is behind the new wave of farm invasions and threats.
According to the minutes of secret meetings held by Tomana with
magistrates and police officials across the country, the AG has
instructed officials to ignore court orders protecting the country's
remaining farmers – leaving them open to invasions, evictions and
prosecution, which have been escalating in recent weeks. Justice
Gowora's High Court judgment this week also dismissed an order being
sought by farmer Peter Etheredge against the President of the Senate,
Edna Madzongwe. Madzongwe has been harassing Etheredge since 2007 in an
effort to force him off his Stockdale citrus farm, which is one of the
few productive farms left in a country crippled by food shortages. Last
year, the farm was looted over a period of several weeks and an
estimated US$600 000 worth of goods was destroyed or stolen.
Etheredge's brother and wife were also severely beaten at the time of
the looting, while they were trying to reclaim their possessions that
had been dumped at the roadside. The family have since been fighting
off a string of invaders living on the property and Etheredge, who was
supposed to be protected by the SADC Tribunal ruling, has been arrested
on numerous occasions. The offensive against the farm owners has since
been renewed, shortly after Justice Gowora delivered her judgment
nullifying the SADC Tribunal's ruling. On Wednesday Madzongwe,
accompanied by a 20 strong group of people, including four policemen,
arrived on the farm brandishing a copy of the state owned Herald
newspaper, and ordered Etheredge to cease operations on the farm.
Madzongwe's spokespeople apparently told Etheredge the Herald's report
on the High Court ruling gave them the authority to carry out the order.

The Guardian (UK)