Inyathi farmer arrested as state intimidation continues
By Alex Bell & Lionel Saungweme
20 May 2010
A farmer from Inyathi was released from police custody on Thursday, after spending two nights behind bars in what is being described as a deliberate drive to force his farming partner to give up his land.
Ernest Nyoni was arrested on Tuesday night and charged with ‘contravening’ the Gazetted Lands (Consequential Provisions) Act by not leaving the farm he co-owns with farmer Glen James. He was only released after his lawyer argued that the farm, Robert Block 14, is not wholly owned by Nyoni, who was being charged in his personal capacity.
SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme explained that the charges could not stick because Nyoni was being charged individually, leading to his release on Thursday. But Saungweme said that the arrest is an “intimidatory tactic”, used to try and force both James and Nyoni to hand over their property. James has since last year battled threats and harassment from land invaders working for Bulawayo High Court Judge, Misheck Cheda, who was allocated the farm under the land ‘reform’ programme.
Cheda has been trying to force James to leave the farm since August last year and the Judge’s hired thugs have been using government equipment, including tractors and weapons, to plunder the land and stop farming there.
The thugs, believed to be CIO operatives, have caused a number of disturbances on the farm since last year, including firing shots at James’ staff.
Inyathi residents have previously rallied behind James, who is a popular and respected farmer in the area. Last year the residents resolved to support James, by writing a petition to the Minister of Lands and Land Resettlement, the district administrator and Judge Cheda himself. The petition, signed by the community, called on the officials to withdraw the ‘offer letters’ against James, calling him “an integral part of the community.”
James had been trying to seek legal protection against Judge Cheda, and the farmer, technically, already has the law on his side. In Inyathi, a local Lands Act prevents farms of less than 1000 hectares in size from being
considered for forced acquisition. James’ 608 hectare farm falls into this category, and by law cannot be acquired for ‘resettlement’ or ‘land reform’.