Three women at the farm spoke to GAPWUZ officials last Friday and accused members of the army manning the farm of sexually harassing them and looting their belongings. Last week Brigadier Justin Mujati reportedly sent soldiers to seize the farm in defiance of a High Court order barring Mujati from holding on to the crop harvested by the previous owner, Charles Lock.
The soldiers are reported to have chased the farm workers out of the farm before going on a rampage, looting the stored tobacco and wheat crops. But GAPWUZ reporteded that the soldiers were not only looting the farmer’s crop, but were also sexually harassing the women.
When the women reported to the police, no action was taken against the soldiers and this has since raised questions as to the extent of the harassment. As a union we are going to make sure we follow up on this case using the relevant offices. We have since sought legal assistance from our human rights partners, said Gerturde Hambira, General Secretary of the union.
GAPWUZ has reported that there are over 66 000 farm workers who have been displaced since February this year.
The union, which has been at loggerheads with government over the alleged human rights abuses during the controversial land reform, has also written a letter to the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office demanding that action be taken to stop the harassment of farm workers.
Post published in: News