PROPERTY developer, Edward Pfugari, has challenged government’s intention to compulsorily acquire Whitecliff Farm, where thousands of people were resettled seven years ago.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
They were resettled on Whitecliff Farm, which is owned by Pfugari, after government’s 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, which displaced thousands of people countrywide.
Pfugari unsuccessfully contested a move at the Administrative Court before appealing to the Supreme Court, which last month ruled in his favour.
It ordered the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development and those occupying the land to vacate within five days.
But the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement, Herbert Murerwa, last week reacted by publishing a statement saying the government intended to acquire the land compulsorily.
Pfugari’s lawyer, George Gapu of Scanlen and Holderness, yesterday said his client was challenging the intended acquisition.
“We have written and delivered our objection to the Ministry of Lands [and Rural Resettlement],” Gapu said.
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“That is not farming land and therefore, it is not covered by Constitutional Amendment number 17, which says that once a preliminary notice of acquisition has been issued, the land automatically gets vested in the State.”
He added: “Because it is not agricultural land, the acquisition, which acquisition we will contest, has to be confirmed by the Administrative Court first.”
Gapu said even though government had said it intended to acquire the land, the settlers should vacate in respect of the Supreme Court order or else they would be found to be in contempt of court.
About 4 000 families lived on the land under dispute, which covers an estimated 1 065 7090 hectares.
The land was compulsorily expropriated by the government to resettle families evicted from different parts of Harare during the widely-condemned Operation Murambatsvina.
The United Nations said at least 700 000 people were directly affected through loss of their home or livelihood while 2,4 million others were indirectly affected.
