Gramara Farm ‘jambanja’d’ over the weekend

Colin Cloete of Gramara farm in Chegutu, Zimbabwe was harassed this weekend by a group of alleged “war vets”. The following sms was received from him during the incident:

“Am being harassed in my house at the moment. They want me to leave now. Go back to Britain. Making fire on my lawn jambanja* style. Police not responding.”

Soon after the message was sent two police officers did in fact arrive and they left with the “invaders”.

Apparently Colonel Kapanga’s wife is the main instigator behind the operation to hound Cloete.

Yesterday the police charged the invaders and it remains to be seen whether or not the charges will be acted upon. Cloete was upbeat and felt that the police had done their job for the moment; however, the past experience of other farmers inspires caution and the justice system stands to be tested today.

Although the invaders were in possession of a stamped and signed letter from the War Vets Association, the authenticity of the letter could not be checked.

The situation in Zimbabwe is such that individuals believe they are above the law as President Mugabe has given blanket authority to “take back” the land and the rule of law has time and again not been adhered to.

In 2008 Cloete was one of several white commercial farmers prosecuted for allegedly staying on their land, which had been forcibly acquired by the government under the violent land reform exercise. Cloete is part of the group of 78 farmers who fall under the SADC ruling that argued that the seizure of their farms constituted discriminated on the grounds of race, and did not afford them a hearing in court and above all violated the SADC treaty on property and human rights.

The SADC tribunal ruled that the farmers could go back on their farms and ordered the Zimbabwe government not interfere with their operations, however the Zimbabwe Attorney General and Minister of Justice has since denied the authority of the SADC appointed body.

Cloete has come under fire in the past for the stance he took as President of the CFU, but states that in his personal capacity he has never believed in or supported land invasions and he is determined to fight against injustice in Zimbabwe. He said,“As president of the CFU I was representing other people’s opinions, not my own opinion and executing the wishes of the organisation’s members.”

This latest farm incident coincides with Mugabe’s visit to Rome to attend the United Nations World Food Summit , taking with him a sixty strong delegation.

*Jambanja is Zimbabwean urban lingua franca or slang for ‘violence’ or ‘chaos’. Popularised after 2000, officials and the public used the word to describe the violent and chaotic farm occupations.

This entry was posted by Sokwanele2 on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 12:18 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.