GOROMONZI villagers are at loggerheads with Air Force of Zimbabwe after the soldiers beat up villagers resisting a Chinese company moulding bricks in the area pretending to be constructing a radar system.
The villagers teamed up and approached the High Court seeking protection from eviction and safeguarding their graves from desecration.
The villagers, Friday Ngoshi, Ephraim Kabvuri and William Kapeta, who are being represented by Norman Mugiya, have cited district development co-ordinator Prisca Dube, Chief Chikwaka, Goromonzi Rural District Council chief executive officer Trust Madhovi, councillor Aaron Shamhu, Member of Parliament OziasBvute, Air Force of Zimbabwe wing commander Masongelwa Ndhlovu, Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Valerio Sibanda and Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri as respondents.
The plaintiffs, Ngoshi, is the head for Gutsa village, Kabvuri is the secretary of the council for elders, while Kapeta is vice-chairperson of the Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Children’s Association.
The village comprises 400 households with an average of five people each.
The plaintiffs are all residents of Gutsa village, having been born and bred in the village, “which is the only place we call home and have always called home”.
The village has always been inhabited by them and their subjects since time immemorial.
They submitted that in June 2025, Ndhlovu went to Gutsa village under Headman Musonza in Chief Chikwaka's jurisdiction, where he and his team surveyed the area.
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After a few days, Ndhlovu and his officers allegedly set up base in the village.
They submitted that days later, Ndhlovu marked the entire village with pegs and did not inform the plaintiffs and the villagers.
Ndhlovu and his officers recently proceeded to clear the land and when the plaintiffs confronted them to find out what was happening, that is when the former told the plaintiffs that the area was designated for their developments and that the Air Force of Zimbabwe wants to put a radar system in the area.
The plaintiffs allegedly asked why they were not advised or at least consulted and Ndhlovu told them that the army is above the law and the ruling Zanu PF party and that the military is allowed to do as it pleases and has no obligation to anyone.
It was submitted that in July this year, Ndhlovu and his officers dug trenches, damaging roads, destroying graves and graveyards in the village as well as demolishing the villagers’ homes and infrastructure without notice.
Ndhlovu told the plaintiffs and their subjects to return to their ancestral lands.
They submitted that most villagers were living in fear as Ndhlovu and his officers are threatening to shoot and kill them as they are in possession of “high powered guns, which they are using to instil fear in the people”.
They told the court that Ndhlovu and his officers have ordered the villager demolish their homes on their own failing which the Air Force will burn them down.
The plaintiffs have spoken to the other defendants and leant that the Air Force of Zimbabwe has partnered Chinese nationals.
The foreign nationals are said to be in the business of brick moulding, disguised by the Air Force as a radar system.
They submitted that the villagers have not been told where to go and how to go there.
The villagers said they had no idea why the Air Force of Zimbabwe was above the law and why it was allowed to evict the entire village without a court order contrary to the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
They submitted that Ndhlovu has deployed armed men in the village to crush any resistance after the villagers approached the Office of the President and Muchinguri-Kashiri.
The villagers said Ndhlovu had stripped them of their rights and reduced them to aliens in their own country.
They submitted that the conduct of the defendants is clearly unlawful and wrongful hence cannot be allowed to persist in a country which thrives on a constitutional democracy.
The villagers are seeking the court to stop the Air Force of Zimbabwe from evicting them from their ancestral land.
However, Ndhlovu said the villagers should have cited commanding officer NADOCCC in the Air Force of Zimbabwe, who is responsible for the construction of radar systems.
He argued that the Air Force of Zimbabwe followed due process of the law, saying the relocation of the Air Force of Zimbabwe radar site from Mt Hampden to Goromonzi was sanctioned in 2014 at the behest of government to pave way for construction of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.
He argued that the Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement ministry as the responsible ministry was instructed to relocate the affected families, adding that regarding recent activities, stakeholders and local leaders were duly informed of the installation of the radar as a government project.
He further argued that the area was designated for cantonment gazetting by the government of Zimbabwe and due process was followed.
He submitted that the Air Force of Zimbabwe is a creature of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe and a highly disciplined law-abiding organisation, saying its actions are within the confines of the law as the relocation was directed by government.
He denied allegations of violation of graves and graveyards, saying nothing was done and that the government office responsible for relocation of the affected persons had taken up the task and is in the process of securing alternative land.
He argued that the Chinese company is running a business that is remitting revenue to the national fiscus, saying a mutual agreement was entered into between the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the Chinese company to coexist on the radar site.
“The construction is lawful and due process was followed. Stakeholders were engaged and consulted and alternative land is being sourced to relocate the affected families,” the Air Force said.
“The construction of the radar is of national interest and fully supported by government.
“Above all, it is essential for safeguarding the villagers from radiation exposure which over time will be detrimental to their health.”
The matter is pending.
