The wrangle for the farm has been ongoing since 2020 when Lands Minister Anxious Masuka, through a state gazette, announced that the farm had been compulsorily acquired under section 72(2) of the constitution.
Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Maxwell Takuva ruled that the three partners, Siphosami Malunga, Charles Moyo, and Zephaniah Dhlamini, who were being charged with illegally occupying Esidakeni farm, committed no crime in remaining on the farm.
The matter was brought to the High Court as an urgent chamber application to challenge a ruling by Matabeleland North provincial magistrate Victor Mpofu, who had dismissed an application to except to the criminal charges which had been made by the trio’s lawyer Josphat Tshuma of Webb Low and Barry.
Tshuma explained to CITE that the ruling by the High Court puts a stop to the criminal proceedings that were taking place at the Tsholotsho Magistrate’s Court.
“As you can recall, my clients were being charged for unlawfully occupying the Esidakeni Farm. Ahead of the trial, we explained to the Magistrate (Victor Mpofu) our reasons to want to except to the charges but he dismissed our application and ruled that the trial continues. He (Mpofu) said we could use our reasons as defense during trial,” Tshuma explained.
“The charges they had leveled against my clients did not exist. They may have been accepted in accordance to the Old Constitution but under the new one they would be treated as a civil matter not a criminal one. We thus felt that the whole procedure was unconstitutional, how can you put a person on trial for a charge that does not exist?”
Tshuma said Justice Takuva upheld their application thereby dismissing all the criminal proceedings at the lower court.