GREEN Fuel has withdrawn charges against 14 Chisumbanje villagers who were alleged to have intended to cause public violence following land clashes between the two parties in December last year. REPORT BY OBEY MANAYITI
On December 28 last year, the villagers squared off with Green Fuel employees following a land dispute in Chinyamukwakwa area. At the circuit court in Chisumbanje on Tuesday, Green Fuel withdrew the charges and Chipinge magistrate Waini Makamera freed the 14.
Charges against the 14 were that following a long standing land dispute between the Chisumbanje villagers and the ethanol-producing company, the villagers went to plant maize on the land in question on December 18. The villagers are claiming the land belongs to them, while the ethanol-producing company is claiming the land is lawfully theirs.
According to the State, police officers were called to disperse the crowd that had gathered around the land in question intending to do their farming and the villagers refused to leave leading to the alleged fracas.
After the clashes, the villagers are said to have continued using the land until Green Fuel made a police report, leading to the arrest of the 14. In an interview following the withdrawal of the charge, the lawyer representing the 14, Langton Mhungu, said the State had no basis to continue with the charge.
“The villagers were denying the charge and the company had to withdraw the charges because there was no evidence. It was not a withdrawal to forgive anyone. There was no evidence to continue with the case,” said Mhungu.
Withdrawal of the charge comes at a time when villagers and Green Fuel agreed to work together for the resumption of ethanol production at Chisumbanje.
