/ 26 January 2008

Zimbabwe court orders farmer to leave his land

A white Zimbabwean farmer has been ordered to vacate his farm after the Supreme Court dismissed his application to stop the government from acquiring it, the government mouthpiece <i>Herald</i> reported on Saturday. Justice Luke Malaba dismissed the constitutional challenge by Michael Campbell, a former owner of Mount Camel in Chegutu.

A white Zimbabwean farmer has been ordered to vacate his farm after the Supreme Court dismissed his application to stop the government from acquiring it, the government mouthpiece Herald reported on Saturday.

Justice Luke Malaba dismissed the constitutional challenge by Michael Campbell, a former owner of Mount Camel in Chegutu, 100km south-west of the capital.

In his ruling, Malaba upheld the sections which Campbell claimed infringed upon his fundamental rights as enshrined in Zimbabwe’s Bill of Rights, for lack of merit.

”The application is accordingly dismissed,” Malaba is quoted as saying by the paper.

The ruling effectively means Campbell must leave his farm to allow President Robert Mugabe’s government to take it over.

Last month a Southern African regional tribunal in Namibia ruled that Campbell could remain on his property pending proceedings from Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court.

Campbell is currently facing criminal charges in the Chegutu Magistrate’s Court for remaining on his farm and could be jailed for up to two years.

In October last year, a group of 11 remaining white farmers in Zimbabwe filed an appeal seeking a court order to stop their planned evictions.

The move came after a magistrate in Chegutu ruled the group had been abusing the legal process in order to delay their fate.

About nine years ago, the Zimbabwean government embarked on a controversial reform programme to acquire millions of hectares of land from white farmers and redistribute it to black ZImbabweans.

About 4 500 white farmers owned a third of the country’s land, including 70% of prime farmland before the government launched the programme. ‒ Sapa-AFP