One of First Lady Grace Mugabe’s aides has reportedly threatened to forcibly take over a thriving dairy farm in Goromonzi, a few kilometres outside Harare.
By Everson Mushava
Sources said Police Commissioner Olga Bungu had over the past few weeks sent officials from the Lands ministry to evict the owner of Mashonganyika Farm, Gillian Munn, claiming she was offered the property by government in 2009.
“A certain police commissioner, Olga Bungu, has sent Ministry of Lands officials from Marondera to tell Munn to vacate the farm. She claimed she has an offer letter dated 2009,” the source said. The source said Bungu had not produced the alleged offer letter. The 209-hectare farm, registered in 2002, produces nearly 1 000 litres of milk per month, about 110 hectares of maize crop and employs over 100 workers.
Munn yesterday refused to comment on the matter, saying the government had taken him to court over the matter.
“I cannot comment on the issue. I have been dragged to court by the Ministry of Lands. It will be in court tomorrow (today),” he said. The seizure of the farm flies in the face of a 2013 government directive stopping the invasion of dairy farms.
Bungu could not be reached for comment yesterday as officers at the Police General Headquarters were reportedly not co-operative, while the President’s Office numbers were continuously engaged.
But police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed that Munn had been given a 90-day notice to vacate the farm and pave way for Bungu.
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She denied reports that Munn was being harassed by police.
“It is true that Commissioner Bungu was offered the farm in 2009 and the white farmer was given a notice to leave the farm,” she said.
A few years ago, Bungu was embroiled in a botched truck import deal where the First Lady is said to have lost $1 million to a shadowy Chinese businessman identified as Ping Sung Hsieh.
In the court case, Bungu was named as the complainant although it later emerged that she was acting on behalf of the First Lady.
