Church sucked into farm dispute

Takawira Zembe, who grabbed Tembanis farm last year, has petitioned the MCZ to take over as the responsible authority at a Nyazura farm school – Chimwanda Primary School.

In a letter written to the MCZs St Andrews Church in Mutare, Mandara Hayi, the acting head of Chimwanda Primary School requested the MCZ to assume the role of school responsible authority which was held by Tembani before his eviction from the farm.

Hayi said Zembe, who was supposed to be the automatic responsible authority after

dispossessing Tembani of his farm had proposed that a church organisation should succeed Tembani as the responsible authority.

The School Development Committee (SDC) chairperson, the School Head, the farm owner and the community of the Chimwanda Primary Church sucked into farm dispute School is inviting you, the church to become the school responsible authority..Mr Tembani was ousted off his farm by Mr Takawira F Zembe. He

is no longer in touch with the school, reads part of Hayis letter to the MCZ which was seen by The Legal Monitor.

Hayi disclosed that the Mutare District office of the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture has already been notified about the situation and has blessed our move.

It is now up to you to make your decision on whether to adopt Chimwanda Primary School as one of your institutions or not. I hope you will take a positive move, Hayi wrote in his letter. Tembani, who became one of the countrys first black commercial farmers shortly after independence in 1980 was evicted from his Minverwag Farm at Clare Estate Ranch farm in Nyazura by Zembe last October in defiance of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) ruling barring his eviction. He had

occupied the farm for the past 26 years.

He built the farm school in 1986 which provided free education to 321 pupils from Grade 1 up to Grade 7. The huge cost incurred during the construction of the farm school was one of the reasons why Tembani ended up failing to service his debts

to Agribank formerly the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC).

The Windhoek based Tribunal recently ruled that the repossession and sale of the farm by the Staterun Agribank in order to recoup an outstanding loan from Tembani was illegal and void.

The regional court ordered the government to take all the necessary measures through its agents not to evict Tembani or his family from the property and to stop interfering with his use and occupation of the farm.

But the government has refused to comply with the regional Tribunals order. Justice and legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa unilaterally pulled Zimbabwe out of the SADC Tribunal, a decision which was disproved by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.