IN a dramatic turn of events, Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement minister Perrance Shiri has poured cold water on exiled former
minister Jonathan Moyo’s court application against the seizure of his Mazowe
farm by state security agents, denting hopes for an out-of-court settlement by
the parties.
Spanning 623 hectares, Elephant Trust Farm, belonging to
Moyo, an ex-minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, was seized by state
agents in 2019, two years after the military coup that toppled president Robert
Mugabe.
At the height of Zanu PF succession battles pitting rival
factions, Moyo, a fierce critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, was among
party stalwarts who coalesced around Mugabe before the military coup. Moyo had
his house raided and peppered with bullets by the military during the November
2017 coup.
Legal documents seen by the Zimbabwe Independent show that
Shiri, who is cited by Moyo as the defendant in High Court case number HC201/20
lodged in January, averred that the self-exiled former minister failed to
identify the “correct respondent.”
Shiri’s latest court disclosures come at a time the feuding
parties had sought to thrash an out-of-court settlement over the disputed farm
which Moyo bought in 2001 for ZW$6 billion, translating to US$105 401,84.
Moyo, according to court documents seen by this newspaper,
bought the farm through a loan facility extended to him by the Commercial Bank
of Zimbabwe (CBZ).
In his opposing affidavit, Shiri contends: “I am the
Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement and the respondent
in this matter, in such capacity I depose to this affidavit.
“The applicants have failed to observe a simple and basic
procedural aspect in bringing their issue to court in terms of section 3 of the
State Liabilities Act (Chapter8:14.This failure to cite the right respondent in
the form of the minister means that there is no respondent in the application.”
Shiri’s opposing affidavit, lodged in the High Court,
contends that Moyo’s application should be dismissed.
“In light of this grave irregularity, it means there is no
actual respondent in this case. Therefore, I pray for a dismissal of the
application for failure to cite proper respondent,” Shiri said.
Prior to Shiri’s affidavit, Moyo’s lawyers Atherstone and
Cook Legal Practitioners had written to the Agriculture minister, alerting him
of the intrusion by state security agents and “various suspicious agents” into
Elephant Trust Farm.
On May 28,2019, Atherstone and Cook wrote to Shiri: “We
write at the instruction of our client Professor Jonathan Moyo who instructs us
as follows: He is the owner of the remainder of Patterson Farm, measuring
622,9125 hectares, otherwise known as the Elephant Trust Farm situated in the
district of Mazowe.
“For instance, on Friday 3 May 2019 an expansive team
comprising government, army, police and Central Intelligence Organisation
officers representing the Mashonaland Central province’s Joint Operations
Command visited the farm for the apparent purpose of commencing a process of
dispossessing Professor Jonathan Moyo of Elephant Trust Farm.”
In his opposing affidavit, seen by this newspaper this
week, Shiri also argued that Moyo’s claims that he was being politically
targeted were “misplaced”.
“The rest of the arguments the 1stapplicant raised about
political persecution are misplaced. This is a normal administrative process
which was undertaken in terms of the law,” Shiri argued.
“There was clear communication of the intentions to
downsize the farm from as far back as May 22, 2019 with correspondences being
exchanged between the parties. Clearly everything was being done in the open
with no ambush tactics deployed.”
Shiri further argued that Moyo’s farm was repossessed “for
purposes of replanning in particular downsizing which means the applicant will
be given a new offer letter for a smaller portion of the land that they can
fully utilise as opposed to the large piece they are failing to use.”
This week, lawyer Chris Mhike of Atherstone and Cook told
the Independent that efforts to hammer out an out-of-court settlement over the
farm wrangle were “inconclusive.”
“It is still unclear whether or not the state might proceed
in terms of a Deed of Settlement. Out-of-court discussions between the parties
have, thus far, been inconclusive,” he said.
Source close to the farm feud hinted that Moyo’s lawyers
would also argue that the former minister was prejudiced of potential revenue
as a result of spirited efforts by state security agents to grab his farm.
“Quantifying the size of business and revenue that Moyo
lost as a result of the disturbances will take time.
“But that is certainly what his legal team would be working
on, to use it as ammunition in court,” a source privy to the legal battle told
this newspaper on condition of anonymity.
As reported by the Independent on June 30, spirited
manoeuvres by state security agents to illegally seize Elephant Trust farm
owned by former minister Moyo have frustrated a deal with an investor, which
could have potentially transformed the property into a viable enterprise.
At that time, confidential documents seen by the
Independent reveal that Moyo’s farm manager had, in principle, agreed to a
joint venture partnership with farmer Alan York in 2018, which could have
turned the property into a viable business entity.
But the joint venture plan went off the rails when state
security agents angled to grab the farm. Zimbabwe Independent
0 comments:
Post a Comment