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Mliswa ordered off seized Norton land

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HIGH Court judge Justice David Mangota has ordered Zanu PF Mashonaland West chairperson Temba Mliswa to move off Kingsdale Farm in Norton

HIGH Court judge Justice David Mangota has ordered Zanu PF Mashonaland West chairperson Temba Mliswa to move off Kingsdale Farm in Norton after the owner accused him of attempting to take over his land in defiance of an earlier order by the Constitutional Court.

BY SENIOR COURT REPORTER

Kingsdale Farm owner Pieter Nicholas Nel made an urgent chamber application at the High Court early this week seeking an interdict to bar Mliswa from taking over the farm and allocating stands to illegal settlers.

On Thursday, Justice Mangota ruled in favour of Nel and granted him provisional relief, barring Mliswa, Simon Nyasha Sibiya and members of Kingsdale Housing Co-operative from interfering with current operations at the farm. The dispute over ownership of the farm, measuring 161 828 hectares, was resolved in October last year by the Constitutional Court which judged in Nel’s favour and ruled the government had illegally acquired the farm, a decision which left over 1 500 families homeless.

After winning the case, Nel engaged top government officials and he agreed to accommodate those that had already built structures on his farm.

Early this year, events took a different dimension as the accommodated settlers allegedly reneged on the agreement to pay for the land and instead approached Hurungwe West MP Mliswa to fight on their behalf.

Apparently, according to Nel, he had sold part of the land to Maparahwe Properties director Cuthbert Mpame, who also accused Mliswa of using his political standing to illegally take over the land from rightful owners.

In his affidavit, Mpame said Mliswa addressed a gathering at Kingsdale Farm at which time he declared to be the supreme authority in Mashonaland West and vowed to take back the farm.

Mpame further said Mliswa appeared on national television reiterating his position and since the broadcast, he (Mpame) had been inundated with calls from anxious purchasers demanding answers and assurance of legitimate business from him.

Nel was represented by Advocate Lewis Uriri instructed by Admire Masango while Mliswa, Sibiya and Kingsdale Co-operative were represented by Musindo Hungwe.