HARARE – A white Zimbabwean farmer on Thursday asked the High Court to convict one of the country’s top army brigadiers of contempt of court for disobeying several orders to let the farmer collect his property from a farm the officer has invaded. 

Judge President Rita Makarau postponed the application by farmer Charles Lock to November 16 to allow Brigadier Justine Mujaji time to file opposing papers.

Mujaji several weeks ago invaded Lock’s Karori farm in the eastern Manicaland province and deployed armed soldiers at the farm who have prevented Lock and court messengers from entering the property to retrieve crops and other personal belonging of the farmer.

Lock’s lawyer, Happias Zhou, told ZimOnline: “The judge (Justice Makarau) will hear oral evidence during the week beginning the 16th of November. We filed further affidavits to update the court as to what is happening since our last appearances. The other side did not have time to respond to our further affidavits.

“The judge was of the view that it was not going to be easy to determine the matter on the affidavits. So she will need to hear oral evidence. My client did not get access to all the equipment and crops. So the further affidavits are to show that contempt is continuing.”

Top security commanders and senior members of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party have grabbed more land from whites in recent months ignoring pleas by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to stop farm seizures.

A letter by Tsvangirai last month to Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to stop Mujaji – Zimbabwe Defence Forces director general of planning and programmes – from invading Lock’s farm has been ignored the same way many other countless calls by the Premier for law and order on farms have gone unheeded.

Agricultural experts say farm invasions coupled with serious shortages of seed, fertilizer and other key inputs will derail plans by the Harare coalition government to increase food output and end hunger in the country.

Meanwhile, a Harare magistrate court will today make a ruling in the case of a 79-year-old white farmer, Hester Theron, who is accused of disobeying a court order two weeks ago to vacate her farm.

Hester – the mother of Commercial Farmers Union president Deon Theron – faces six months in prison if she fails to leave the 2 000 hectare Friedenthal farm, south of Harare where she has lived since 1957.

Her son said: “I went to court with my mother but we are going back at 1415hrs on Friday for sentencing.

“We have asked that they postpone the eviction until she’s been paid something. She is nearly 80 years old so we have said if government isn’t in a position to compensate her now, maybe they should hold the eviction until she has been paid her money.

“We have always asked that the sentencing be done by the High Court because we feel the monetary value involved in the compensation is beyond magistrates jurisdiction.” – ZimOnline