BANKER GETS HIS TWO FARMS BACK

Banker Mr Nicholas Vingirai has thanked President Mnangagwa for breaking “the seemingly endless road of bureaucratic process and procedure” by facilitating the return of his two farms in Mashonaland West province — Doondo and Sholliver — which were “wrongly acquired” by the State around 2005.

The Government had long made a determination that the farms were “wrongfully acquired” by the State and directed that they be returned to their rightful owner.

In a recent ruling, High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi granted a court order by consent of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, as well as the Minister of State for Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution, which saw the return of the farms.

The veteran banker was represented by Mr Tawanda Zvobgo of Zvobgo Attorneys.

The High Court ruled that the acquisition of the farms “was wrongful and erroneous” and that “the gazetting of the compulsory acquisition” by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, as well as “the subsequent endorsement of such compulsory acquisition” by the Registrar of Deeds “in the deeds registry are null and void ab initio and are hereby set aside”.

The court order went further to declare Mr Vingirai and his two companies — Broxfield Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd and Doondo Farm (Pvt) Ltd — as “the valid and lawful owners” of the farms.

The Registrar of Deeds was directed to cancel any and all endorsements made, as well as any caveats registered over the title deeds.

The Registrar of Deeds has since confirmed the cancellation of the gazetting endorsement under consent numbers 278/2025 and 279/25.

Contacted for comment, Mr Vingirai said: “It has been a painful 20-year struggle for justice. I am naturally delighted by the developments. It is heartening that Government has remained resolute and faithful to its 2015 decision to return our farms, a decision that has been frustrated for 20 years by certain corrupt and unscrupulous officials,” he said.

“I am ever grateful to His Excellency, President Dr ED Mnangagwa, and his Government for his intervention that broke the seemingly endless winding road of bureaucratic process and procedure.”

Doondo and Sholliver farms were compulsorily acquired in 2005 after the banker was accused of 11 counts of theft and externalisation of funds, leading to Cabinet ordering the return of the farms and Intermarket banking and insurance group in 2015.

He was later cleared of the charges.

In addition, separate investigations commissioned by the Government later made a finding that the acquisitions were irregular.

In 2020, the Second Republic gazetted Statutory Instrument 62 of 2020, which was designed to give back land to indigenous Zimbabweans or compensate them — depending on the circumstances — for farms they might have lost during the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme.

By indigenous individuals, the Government meant people of Zimbabwean origin who were previously marginalised before 1980 and had acquired land either through direct purchase or through Government commercial farm schemes before the land reform. Sunday Mail

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