Plan to seize Chiyangwa farms
25/03/2010 00:00:00
THE government has announced plans to seize three farms owned by businessman Phillip Chiyangwa.
Lands and Resettlement Minister Herbert Murerwa, in a government gazette, said Chiyangwa can claim compensation for the annexed land.
The three properties measuring a total of 1386 hectares, located on the outskirts of Harare, will be compulsorily acquired for “urban development”, according to the notice.
Chiyangwa owns more than a dozen businesses, and the three properties are all registered under different companies. The 193-hectare Nyarungu is registered to Jetmaster, Stoneridge (587ha) to his property development firm, Pinnacle Holdings, and Odar Farm (606ha) is listed as owned by the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association.
Chiyangwa said Thursday that the acquisition had been amicable, and he would not be mounting a challenge.
“There is no sinister motive,” said the colourful businessman and former MP. “We are discussing compensation with government. There is nobody who can have his urban land taken away without being compensated. So everything is in order, I am going to be compensated.”
The property tycoon, through his companies, is one of the biggest peri-urban land owners.