Maioio Farm, Mkwasine, in the Chiredzi District was once a thriving citrus and sugar cane farm, employing a substantial labour force and bringing in hundreds of thousands of US Dollars in export earnings. Today it is in a sorry state as the citrus crop wilts for lack of irrigation and the untended sugar cane rots in the fields. The plight of the farm owner Eric Harrison and his family was described in an earlier article. Supported by neighbours and friends, Harrison has stood his ground, doggedly refusing to accept what amounts to an illegal invasion of his property by an assortment of ZANU PF thugs, militia and would-be A2 farmers. Neither threats nor violence, neither the looting of his crops nor the vandalizing of his property, has so far undermined his resolve to stand fast.
On the morning of 21st July as Harrison made his way across the farm to turn on the irrigation system, he was accosted by a large group of his uninvited guests. Sensing their hostile mood he managed to get a radio message to his wife Joan who was alone in the house, just before the attack began. One of the would-be A2 settlers called Musekwa (otherwise employed as a member of the ZRP) grabbed his arm and demanded to know what he was doing. Another A2 settler laying claim to the farm, Guno Mutizira, tugged and pushed him from the other side. (this Guno Mutizira with his brother, Phinias, is known to have already secured a cane plot at South East College). The crowd moved in closer as the jostling continued. Completely outnumbered by a hostile mob and fearing serious injury himself, Harrison pulled out a personal protection "pepper spray" canister and aimed it at his assailants. This gave him just the few seconds advantage he needed to break free from the mob and sprint for safety. The mob however followed in hot pursuit and soon had him pinned down. In his own words, "I was surrounded by a frenzied mob, but one thing stuck in my mind - someone in the crowd had a video camera!"
Harrison was thrown into the back of a truck and taken to the police station at Mkwasine. On the way the truck was stopped and as Harrison describes it "Musekwa (the ZRP officer) gave me a couple of good smacks across the face, just to let me know where my place was". At the police station Harrison was finger-printed and, according to the travesty of justice which now obtains in Zimbabwe, he the victim was charged as the perpetrator. He was charged with the serious offence of GBH - an assault causing grievous bodily harm - while his assailants received not so much as a caution or reprimand.
While Harrison was engaged at the police station a serious situation was developing back on his farm. Responding to the alert put out by Harrison's wife, neighbours managed to get her out of the house and to safety. But then they came under attack themselves. Stones were hurled at them by the youths and thugs occupying the farm and the back window of one the vehicles was smashed. The rescue party retreated to the entrance to the farm and while there watched as a white Nissan pick-up, packed with militia and also containing two police officers drove slowly past. The occupants of the truck screamed at them that they would be back, to beat and kill them. True enough within 15 minutes they were back. Their vehicle was driven at speed, the breaks applied at the last minute, narrowly missing the parked vehicles and actually running into the group standing beside the road. Leaping from the moving truck the thugs started to attack the small group of farmers, but in this instance the farmers resisted the attack. They gave chase to their assailants who ran away. The fleeing thugs however pelted them with rocks, and two of the farmers received severe head wounds. In the ensuing melee Harrison, who had by this time returned to the farm in a police vehicle, noticed that the same man with the video camera was still filming - evidence if any were needed that the whole scenario had been planned in advance.
With the arrival of the police on the scene (a police force or a police farce ?) everyone in the rescue party was ordered to report to the police station …. While the crops continue to rot in the fields …