Home Affairs Minister Chombo named in newest farm invasion
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
Home Affairs minister, Ignatius Chombo, has been named in the freshest invasion of a white owned horticultural farm belonging to a family identified as the McKinnons whose roots are in Canada.
The McKinnons were recently in the news in the government controlled media where reports alleged that a huge cache of arms had been discovered on their farm.
Ben Freeth, a former Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) leader, revealed that President Robert Mugabe’s elite lieutenants are planning to subdivide the farm on the outskirts of Harare into small, peri-urban plots that would be sold and the money pocketed by the invaders.
The invaders, led by the principal lands officer identified as Tadeus Manyati stand to pocket some $66.6 million by reselling plots off the farm on which the McKinnons had also kept wildlife that comprises 60 impala, 22 wildebeest, six eland, six kudu and three zebra.
The family, according to new reports, could not move the animals as it is yet to get movement permits.
Mark McKinnon, the co-owner of the farm who has since moved to Canada, talked to Freeth, now the executive director of the Mike Campbell Foundation and spokesperson of the SADC Tribunal Rights Watch, on a Whatsapp voice call and recounted how the largely horticultural farm was invaded.
Mark’s father reportedly bought the farm in 1987 with a certificate of no present interest to acquire it from the government.
“We had to get out. I was going to just send the family out and fight it myself but they’re following me and would have locked me up. Sorry we couldn’t meet, I was in hiding,” McKinnon told Freeth.
The farmer said he had never been to Canada since the 1960s when he migrated to Zimbabwe which he still calls home.
“I’ve never been here before but we’re going to build a new life until we can come home,” he told Freeth. “We’re on one side of Canada staying with an aunt, and my parents are on the other side staying with my sister.”
He said his workers and their families were forced out of their houses and the invaders threw their furniture out on the side of the road.
“They (invaders) were after us, there’s big money at stake here. The Principle Lands Officer (in the Ministry of Lands) – Tadeus Manyati – pitched up in a fancy silver Hummer. He’s also been here in a BMW convertible.
“They broke into our houses and are now living in them. He works for Exodus (Makumbe), who is believed to be Minister Ignatius Chombo’s nephew – and is working with Chombo. Exodus is getting up to US$250,000 a day in cash from stealing farms and selling them off as small plots,” said McKinnon.
Comments could not immediately be obtained from the named individuals.
The farm is understood to have been recently listed for takeover and its status changed from farmland to commercial land so as to enable resale.
“People are paying anything from $7,000 to as much as $13,000 for a 300 square metre stand and they don’t get title deeds, water, sewage or any servicing for that. Just a roughly demarcated piece of land,” said McKinnon.
He said his family received numerous spooky visits from the police and militia for over a month and were harassed on numerous occasions as the invaders tried to force them out.
He added that they were reported to the police for apparently refusing to leave the farm and made 12 court appearances in six weeks in 2015 and a further 10 this year.
The McKinnons owned 100 hectares of arable land and were leading tomato producers and suppliers to Harare.
In addition, they produced potatoes, cabbages, broccoli as well as cauliflower and employed 50 permanent staff and 200 seasonal workers.
The family was also involved in humanitarian work, supporting some 200 orphans at the Glen Forest Development Centre. Nehanda Radio
