John Worswick, President of the Justice for Agriculture (JAG) pressure group, said yesterday that they would file a joint challenge against President Robert Mugabe’s controversial land reforms before the end of the month.
The Windhoek-based Tribunal last December ruled that Harare should stop evicting a Zimbabwean white farmer, William Michael Campbell, from his farm in Chegutu pending final determination of the legality of the land reforms.
Worswick said he expected more farmers to sign up for challenge, following last week’s withdrawal of charges against a group of farmers in Chegutu who were being accused of resisting eviction from their properties.
Chegutu magistrate, Tinashe Ndokera, dropped charges against 13 white farmers who had been bought to court for failing to comply with a Government directive to vacate their properties by September 30, 2007.
A ruling declaring land reform illegal would have far-reaching consequences for Mugabe’s Government, opening the floodgates to hundreds of claims of damages by dispossessed white farmers.
Post published in: News