The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has ordered
investigations into the eviction of a Chinhoyi farmer, Mr Gary Bruce Hensman,
from Gyppslander Farm.
The OPC has asked the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission
(ZACC) to investigate allegations that a Government official within the
Ministry of Lands, Water and Rural Resettlement deliberately withheld an offer
letter addressed to the permanent secretary of the same ministry communicating
decisions of the Mashonaland West provincial lands committee recommending the
allocation of Gyppslander Farm to Mr Hensman.
The office urged ZACC to also investigate other acts of
corruption related to the issuance of offer letters for a number of farms.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural
Resettlement has been further directed to resolve the allocation of Gyppslander
Farm, taking into account recommendations of the Mashonaland West provincial
lands committee of April 2019.
In a statement on Thursday, Chief Secretary to the
President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said: “The eviction of Mr Hensman was
the ultimate culmination of a High Court process in which Hensman’s legal
practitioners consented to the judgement that consequently led to his eviction
from the said farm.
“The reference for the High Court order in question is case
Number HC8798/18.
“Mr Hensman’s eviction was not a Government-sponsored,
racially-motivated or land invasion as depicted on social media and in various
fora by sections of some Zimbabweans both at home and in the Diaspora.
“The Government’s policy on land allocation is premised on
a non-racial and non-partisan basis. The current situation on Zimbabwean farms
vindicates the Government on this fact.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet has received
reports to the effect that the manner in which Mr Hensman was evicted, though
driven by a legitimate High Court order, was carried out in a manner that went
beyond the bounds of lawfulness, with property belonging to Mr Hensman being
vandalised and some of it stolen.”
The Office of the President and Cabinet, he said, has
launched an inquiry into this matter and would like to inform the public that
the eviction of Mr Hensman was the ultimate culmination of a High Court process
in which Hensman’s legal practitioners consented to the judgement that
consequently led to his eviction from the said farm.”
Dr Sibanda said those found to have perpetrated any offence
will be brought to book. “The Government of Zimbabwe does not condone
lawlessness, be it on our farms or anywhere else in the country,” he said.
The new political administration believes in an inclusive
society that does not countenance racial discrimination, and is working with
white former commercial farmers to see how they can contribute to the
development of the country.
President Mnangagwa has since said white former commercial
farmers who lost farms through land redistribution were free to take part in
agricultural development through various contributions that can help enhance
productivity. Herald
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