Govt to relocate 50 Chomufuli families

George Maponga in MASVINGO
Government has resolved to relocate 50 families resettled under A1 and A2 programmes at Chomufuli Ranch in Gutu District after it emerged the land they were settled on falls under the jurisdiction of the Zimbabwe National Army, which uses it for training purposes.

Chomufuli resettled farmers recently won a peace order after they took the army to court for threatening to kick them off the land allocated to them under the land reform programme.

The farmers took the army to the Gutu Civil Court accusing armed soldiers from the nearby 4:2 Infantry Brigade of disturbing their peace by allegedly destroying their homes and property.

The Gutu Civil Court last month granted the farmers’ application after the army failed to oppose the suit.

However, Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Shuvai Mahofa on Tuesday said the provincial lands committee had since established that legally, the area under dispute at Chomufuli Ranch fell under the jurisdiction of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

Sen Mahofa said Government would secure alternative land for the Chomufuli families.

“We have since agreed that the families at Chomufuli who were involved in a dispute over land with the army be relocated to another area because we have maps that show that the area they are settled on falls under the jurisdiction of the army, which reserved it for training purposes,’’ she said.