Land dispute rages in Gokwe

Midlands Correspondent
A GOKWE family is embroiled in a land dispute with a Kwekwe-based farmer after he allegedly invaded their fields for his cattle fattening project.
The family, which resides in Mapfumo village under Chief Njelele, Gokwe, alleges that the farmer, only identified as a Mr Johnson of Carswell Meats, one of the leading meat producers in the Midlands, invaded 10 hectares of land belonging to the Maphosa family and has since erected a fence securing the place.

Mr Johnson, however, claims to have been allocated the disputed piece of land by the Gokwe Rural District Council for his cattle project.
Family spokesperson Mr Norbert Maphosa told The Herald that Mr Johnson did not seek their consent, neither did he engage the traditional leaders in the area for approval.

“We are involved in a land dispute with Carswell Meats after they demarcated my plot without my family’s consent. We only learnt that our land had been sold to Carswell by Gokwe RDC after Carswell erected  a fence around the place,” he said. “The council must first allocate us another piece of land before selling our land. They (Gokwe RDC) did not follow proper procedures therefore we are blocking this project,” he added.

Mr Maphosa threatened to take legal action against Mr Johnson if the matter was not resolved amicably.
“We are in the process of taking remedial action against Carswell,” he said. Indications are that the matter could spill into the courts after Mr Johnson erected a fence securing the land while the Maphosa family hit back by ploughing the land in question to obstruct any development within the secured area.

Contacted for comment, Mr Johnson said he was allocated the piece of land by Gokwe RDC. He also claimed that he was in possession of an offer letter from Gokwe RDC.

“I do not see where we are disputing because I applied for the land in question from Gokwe RDC. The RDC allocated us the land which it claimed was prime land.

“What we did was above board,” he said before refusing to give further details.
Contacted for comment, Gokwe RDC chief executive Mr Silas Vilani said the council engaged the chief before the allocation was done.
Mr Vilani said the piece of land which the council allocated to Mr Johnson was abandoned by villagers a long time ago.

“The land in question was idle for a very long time. We then allocated it to Mr Johnson for his pen feeding project,” said Mr Vilani.
“It was after we allocated the land in question to Carswell that Mr Maphosa started claiming it. The matter has been reported to us and we are dealing with it to ensure that we resolve it amicably.”