Farmers clash over barns

barns that were built by a white former commercial farmer.
Ms Nomhle Mliswa claims to be the owner and has filed an urgent chamber application seeking to bar the former Makonde legislator from using the barns. She says her tobacco is ready but the barns are packed with Mr Paradza’s crop. Ms Mliswa claims her workers are being assaulted and harassed by Mr Paradza’s employees and she needs protection from the courts.
The matter has been sent to Justice November Mtshiya’s chambers. Mr Paradza is yet to respond to the application.
Ms Mliswa’s lawyers, Sinyoro and Partners, on Thursday argued that the barns were built on the woman’s plot and Mr Paradza bulldozed onto the property.
Ms Mliswa submitted that she was allocated Plot 2 of Summerhill Farm while Mr Paradza was allocated Plots 3 and 4 of the same farm under the Land Reform Programme.
She argues that the barns were built on her land and that Mr Paradza had no right to that property. “My rights to the tobacco barns are under attack by the respondent’s actions. I am suffering prejudice and irreparable harm as a result of the spoliation. I do not have anywhere to cure my tobacco as I have already completed grading. I stand to lose out financially if possession is not restored as my planned farming timetable is being derailed,” she said. – CR.