Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A DECADES-OLD land dispute between a Mutasa family and their village head has now escalated to Chief Mutasa’s court, as both sides seek resolution after years of simmering tensions.
David Kanjanda and his wife, Cecilia, are embroiled in a bitter battle with village head, Misheck Nyazika over a small, but fiercely contested garden, with each party insisting on rightful ownership.
Kanjanda traced the roots of the conflict back more than 40 years, when his family was relocated by the State.
“In 1981, my parents were removed by Government from the land they were staying on and moved to live with other community members. The land they were given belonged to village head Nyazika. We stayed there until 2005, when my mother passed on, and Nyazika tried to evict me. I refused to leave because our family had been living there for years,” he explained.
He further alleged that while the Nyazika family eventually permitted him to remain at the homestead, they repossessed most of the surrounding farmland.
“They later let me stay, but took back most of my farming land. I accepted that. Eventually, they even sold the land they had left for me, leaving me only with the homestead and my small garden,” narrated Kanjanda.
The garden, therefore, became the last piece of land the Kanjandas felt they still controlled.
“In 2023, I suffered some health challenges and was admitted in hospital. When I came out of the hospital, the garden had already been parcelled out to someone else. I removed the person’s fence, and started using my garden again. But on September 17, they stopped us from farming from that garden as well, and that is why I brought the matter before this court. The village head had parcelled my garden to someone else. He is chasing us away,” he said.
Kanjanda insisted that the garden did not belong to the Nyazika family originally, claiming it was an open area used by many families.
“I confronted him because the garden did not belong to his family before. I have children and it is my desire to leave them with an inheritance that will not stir controversy for them. I am now old and close to death,” he said.
His wife, Cecilia, echoed his frustration, but went further to accuse the village head of intimidation and misconduct.
“The truth is that we are not living in peace with the village head. He is violent and abuses his office. He takes my keys, gets into my house and steals my food. I have gone to his home to confiscate such foodstuffs on many occasions,” she told the court.
Village head Nyazika did not deny that a dispute existed, only that the garden rightfully belonged to his family.
“When they were allocated our land, we were staying in Zimunya. When we came back, we realised they had been placed there, but we were promised that they would eventually leave for their own land. However, when we came back later, they had built a bigger house. We let them stay there,” said village head Nyazika.
According to him, the garden was never meant to be permanent property for the Kanjandas.
“The garden he is talking about belonged to us. His mother had asked that she use it for a while and we agreed. She had to give it back, and we only stopped him after we saw that he was already constructing a dam, showing that he had no plans to leave,” he said.
He also accused the couple of aggression.
“When he and his wife came to confront me on the garden issue, they were so violent,” he claimed.
Chief Mutasa stressed that the Kanjanda family were allocated land elsewhere, and therefore the old land they once occupied in 1981 was no longer legally theirs.
“As you have told us yourselves, the garden that you are fighting for belonged to Mbuya Nyazika, who loaned it to Mbuya Kanjanda. Why are you holding on to a garden that was never yours in the first place? You have a garden that you were given,” he said firmly.
However, Chief Mutasa acknowledged that the Kanjandas’ greatest concern was losing access to water from the small dam they had begun constructing near the disputed garden.
“The issue here is not about ownership. You know that the garden belongs to Nyazika, and what you want is assurance that Nyazika will still give you access to the water from your dam,” he clarified.
He instructed village head Nyazika to allow the family access to the water, but only under proper traditional protocols.
The village head agreed, on the condition that they respect him as their traditional leader.
Chief Mutasa also urged both families to restore peace and avoid fuelling animosity in the community.
