A war veteran, John Fadzisayi Jani, has accused both Marondera Rural District Council (RDC) and Marondera Municipality of corruption and incompetence in a long-running dispute over ownership and control of a farm located on the outskirts of the Mashonaland East provincial capital.
Jani, who has occupied the farm for years, claims the two local authorities are engaged in what he describes as “games and confusion” regarding the property’s administration, with each side demanding payments and levies as well as ownership for the same piece of land.
He alleged that officials from Marondera RDC recently contacted him demanding outstanding levies, despite his previous dealings with Marondera Municipality, which also claims ownership of the farm.
“An official from Marondera Rural District Council called me saying they have not been receiving payment for the farm for some time,” Jani said.
“This clearly shows there’s confusion between the two authorities, and I suspect there’s something fishy going on. These people are playing games — it’s either incompetence or corruption.”
The war veteran further claimed that the dispute has disrupted his multi-billion cyber city development plans at Elmswood Farm and left him uncertain about which authority to comply with.
“I have all my paperwork in order, but each time I try to regularise my operations, one office tells me something different from the other. It’s frustrating and suspicious,” he said.
The call by Marondera RDC for Jani to pay development levies for Elmswood Farm has strengthened claims that he is the legitimate owner of the contested property.
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Elmswood Farm, measuring 468.8 hectares, is at the centre of a long-running ownership dispute between Jani and Marondera Municipality, but recent developments appear to tip the scales in Jani’s favour.
In Zimbabwe, the land levy system is divided into two parts — land rentals collected by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development for the consolidated revenue fund, and development levies collected by rural district councils to finance local projects.
The fact that Marondera RDC is demanding payment from Jani suggests official recognition of his ownership status.
This position aligns with a letter issued in January this year by the Lands ministry’s permanent secretary, Obert Jiri, confirming that Jani is indeed the registered owner of Elmswood Farm.
Jani told this publication that he intends to regularise his payments with Marondera RDC.
“I am a law-abiding citizen and will make my payments on time. I was only delayed because of the ongoing dispute with Marondera Municipality,” he said.
Meanwhile, the war veteran also accused former white farmer Ryan Mark Ervine of violating a formal agreement they had regarding operations on the property.
“Ervine has been deviant and is breaching the terms of our agreement on the farm,” Jani alleged.
Marondera RDC could not be reached for comment yesterday, but an official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the council was seeking to regularise payments from several farms in their jurisdiction, including Elmswood, which is registered under Jani.
He said he was not in a position to comment on Jani’s case, citing confidentiality.
Marondera Municipality officials could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
The Elmswood Farm dispute underscores the long-standing boundary and administrative overlaps between Marondera Municipality and Marondera RDC — an issue that has sparked several land ownership and licensing conflicts in recent years.
