UN diplomat invades farm

Jansen said this was only the most recent act of lawlessness committed by Mabhena and his family since their unlawful and illegal occupation of his farm in December 2007. Needless to say, the forced occupation of my property is totally illegal. It has not complied in any way with the requirements and provisions of the Zimbabwe Land Acquisition Act, said Jansen. Mabhena is in possession of a rather questionable offer letter which he says makes him “the rightful owner of my home and farm”. In fact both Mabhena and the Kwe Kwe Lands Officer, Mr Mandaza, have advised me on numerous occasions that the provisions of the act ie: notice of acquisition, section 8 and lawful eviction by a competent court are irrelevant and can be ignored by them, Jansen explained.

The tragedy of the matter is that law enforcement agencies seem to agree with this .I have been arrested but the local magistrates court was unable to prosecute as the procedures as laid out in the act have not been adhered to, he added. Since December 2008 the interference in Jansens farming activities and threats of forced illegal eviction have escalated on a continuing basis. He said Mandaza had illegally without following the provisions of the act settled one Counselor Moyo on the property on 24 August 2009.

In May last year, Jansen wrote to Augustinho Zacarias, the UNDP representative in Harare, advising him of Mabhena’s activities on his farm, but had never received a reply. At the time of going to press, we had not managed to make contact with Zacarias. Mabhena becomes the second high-profile Zimbabwean based in the United States to be accused of invading a commercial farm in Zimbabwe, following the much-publicised case of Zimbabwean-born American citizen Dr Arikana Chihombori who invaded a farm in Chegutu, maintaining that like every other Zimbabwean she was entitled to a piece of land.