Grace Mugabe's evictees seek Chombo, Chihuri arrest

NINE of the hundreds of villagers recently kicked out of Arnold Farm in Mazowe district to pave way for the expansion of First Lady Grace Mugabe's business empire have filed contempt of court charges against Home Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo and Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri.

Through their lawyers from Donsa-Nkomo and Mutangi legal firm, the villagers say they want Chombo and Chihuri arrested and charged for defying a High Court order staying their evictions.

They claim that police have set up base at the farm and blocked them from entering the property to harvest their crops, adding the law enforcement agents at the site indicated they only recognised orders given by their bosses.

The villagers were forcibly moved out of the farm and had their homes torched after they refused to vacate the property they allegedly invaded at the height of the land reform programme in 2000.

They have also sought the intervention of Sadc and African Union leaders to stop the evictions.

But Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs minister Martin Dinha argued that the villagers were not farmers, but gold panners wreaking havoc in the area.