White couple gets farm back
By Tendai Kamhungira, Court Writer
Friday, 12 August 2011 13:52
HARARE – A Harare magistrate has granted a white couple permission to stay
at their farm occupied under the land reform programme that displaced the
majority of white commercial farmers.
The couple had resisted leaving the 2 900 acre estate, resulting in the
court action.
Adam Richard Selby, Linda Selby and their holding firm, Komani Estate
Private Limited, were facing a charge of occupying gazetted land without
lawful authority as defined in Section 3 (2) (a) as read with Section 3 (3)
of the gazetted land (Consequential Provisions Act) Chapter 20:28.
But magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini ruled that the Selby family was the
lawful occupier of the farm based on a permit they had been given by the
late governor for Harare Metropolitan province Witness Mangwende in 2005.
“There is therefore overwhelming evidence to the effect that accused are
lawfully authorised and have lawful authority in the form of a permit which
authorises the accused to occupy and utilise Komani Estate for agricultural
purposes,” read Jarabini’s judgement.
Prosecutors had told the court that the Selby family had been occupying the
estate, also known as Selby farm, from February in 2007 illegally because
the land had been acquired by government for resettlement purposes.
The Selby family had told the court that they had authority to stay on the
estate basing on the permit issued to them by Mangwende granting them
permission to co-exist with newly resettled farmers.
Jarabini ruled that there was no change from this previous arrangement,
which he said was still valid.