The Ministry of Lands and Rural settlement bungled the allocation of land to Kingsdale Housing Cooperative in Norton, a move which has led to the eviction of more than 1 500 families through an order by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) yesterday.
CHARLES LAITON
The families, some of whom have constructed permanent houses on the 161 hectares of the disputed land, have been given 30-days to vacate the property which the court ruled had been allocated to them illegally by the ministry.
The land in question is owned by one Peter Nicholas Neil who was cited as the applicant in the matter.
During court proceedings, the cooperative’s lawyers, Willshy Nyakudanga who was assisted by Nyengeterai Mangidza, tried to persuade the court to grant reprieve to the members of the cooperative and allow them to stay on the land, but the court said it could not breach the law.
Nyakudanga argued that the cooperative was simply a third party and a bona fide purchaser of the land which it had also developed at a cost of $200 000, but the court maintained that the allocation itself was illegal.
“The law is clear and the effects of the law are very, very clear. You may be feeling sympathy for the cooperative, but the law has to be enforced,” Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba said.
The court further said the Ministry’s acquisition proceedings of the land were later withdrawn by an order of the court and as such, the cooperative had no legal basis to claim occupation.
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Neil’s lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri, who was being instructed by Cuthbert Mpame, told the court that last week the High Court also granted an interdict order barring the families from further carrying out construction at the site.
Nyakudanga then accepted that the cooperative had no legal basis to continue occupying the land, but pleaded with the court to allow the amendment of the draft order which was seeking to evict the families.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku then asked Uriri if his client was prepared to allow the families enough time to make preparation to move off the land. He made it clear to Nyakudanga that the cooperative had no liberty to dictate the terms of vacating the land since it had no legal basis to be on the farm.
Uriri agreed that the families be allowed 30-days and not the 90 days that had been suggested by the cooperative’s lawyer. He also told the court that Neil would be prepared to negotiate purchasing terms of the stands, but on an individual basis.
