Commercial Farmers’ Union to appeal to Supreme Court decision

Published: February 9, 2010

Harare  –  The Commercial Farmers Union says it is going back to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal and for the third time to challenge the refusal by the Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court to honour the SADC tribunal’s 2008 judgment which ruled in favour of 78 former white commercial farmers who successfully challenged President Robert Mugabe’s 2000 chaotic land reform.

CFC president Deon Theron told ZimEye in an exclusive interview that they were returning to the SADC Tribunal to seek justice.

“We are once again going to appeal to the SADC Tribunal, because we want justice to prevail. We are very much concerned by this sad development. How can the judge say he respects the SADC Tribunal when he fails to respect the judgment it passed. We understand that this is not justice at play but purely politics. SADC Tribunal is an internally recognized court and Zimbabwe its signatory, “said Theron.

Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court last week said the tribunal’s verdict did not apply to the country.

The Tribunal in November 2008 ruled in favour of 78 white farmers who were challenging President Robert Mugabe’s land reform programme on the grounds that it discriminated against them on the basis of the colour of their skins.

Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa last September wrote to the Tribunal advising it that Harare would no longer participate in further hearings at the Windhoek-based regional court, insisting that the country
was not bound by the court’s decisions.

Ben Freeth who is heading farmers’ SADC challenge said, “the SADC ruling gives us the legal title and therefore a right to compensation. We have a right to equality under the international law and we are going back to SADC because it should determine the methods of evaluation,” he told journalist in Harare.

Political analyst Takura Zhangazha said the country’s justice delivery system was compromised by the partisan land re-distribution programme.

“Zimbabwe’s justice delivery system has never been professional since the advent of the land reform because the people involved also benefited from the process.

“We also doubt SADC or AU because of late there have been no strong voices coming from these two organizations, but what we know is that there are going to be some questions from the international community questioning the legitimacy of the Zimbabwean judiciary. We also need the legal basis of the Tribunal and its legality in Zimbabwe,” said Zhangazha.