adminTavydale farm owner Mr Pip Mattison had to pay compensation to 55 resettled farmers for the maize he destroyed during a farm wrangle.
Magistrate Elisha Singano ruled that Chief Negomo of Mashonaland Central had overstepped his mandate by both hearing a case outside his area of jurisdiction and by imposing a penalty which only a High Court could impose.
This followed an application by Mr Mattison’s lawyer Mr Tich Muhonde who approached the court to set aside the judgment citing several reasons, some of which related to jurisdiction.
In his judgment, Mr Singano said Mr Mattison did not reside in the area of jurisdiction of Chief Negomo neither had he consented to be tried by someone who lived further away from his area.
“The Chief overstepped his area of jurisdiction since community court is a creature of statute, it should abide by such parent Act of Customary Law and Local Courts . . . Chief Negomo should confine to his area of Kanhukamwe area,” said the magistrate in his judgment.
It was also noted that the value involved was not within the jurisdiction of traditional leaders but the High Court of Zimbabwe.
“Even the magistrates’ court have no jurisdiction here to preside over such a huge claim running into millions of United States dollars,” he said.
The court noted that both the A1 farmers and Mr Mattison were involved in a commercial enterprise of farming and not communal which occur in rural areas.
“Such cases would need crop assessment by experts from Agritex, quantification of damages assessing the inputs used and expected yield given the stage of the crop and the costing of inputs. All these were done at the Chief’s Court hence the difficulty to assess how the Chief arrived at the globular figure of US$1,1 million,” he said.
Mr Mattison had been embroiled in a dispute with the 55 A1 model farmers after he destroyed their maize crops planted on 300 hectares
The commercial farmer argued that the farm was protected under a BIPPA while the farmers were riding on their offer letters signed by the area’s district administrator.
Mashonaland Central Governor and Resident Minister Martin Dinha has since indicated that Government would not resettle people at the farm.
He said authorities would look for alternative land for the 55 farmers.
Online Reporter