Woman's hell at Kembo Mohadi's hands

A WIDOWED Beitbridge woman has opened up about her hellish existence since Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi made moves to take over her land.

Soforia Ndou thought her world had come crashing down when her husband died, but it was only the beginning of her worst nightmare as the Mohadi family eyed her land.

Ndou, whose husband James Muleya - a war veteran - died in 2005, last week told Southern Eye that her life had become unbearable because of the Mohadis.

"I am living in hell because of Mohadi," she said, tearfully.

"When my husband was still alive I didn't have all these problems.

"They only started when he died in 2005. I think the minister saw that I could not stand up to him since I am now a widow."

Ndou said she has lost two beasts to Mohadi after his workers allegedly rounded them together with his, which he had let into her plot.

"I can't track them to his plot because it's a no-go area for us," she said.

"His workers rounded up two of my cattle when they were taking back his cattle to his farm.

"All efforts to get them have been fruitless."

Ndou could not hold back her tears as she felt there was nothing she could do since Mohadi is a powerful man.

Ndou said Mohadi had built a structure on his land, extending into her plot and had not removed his fence around her plot despite being ordered to do so by the High Court in Bulawayo.

Mohadi has for years been embroiled in a battle with farmers at Jopembe block, who accuse him of trying to grab their land forcefully.

Villagers claim Mohadi wants to allocate the land to his son, Campbell (Jr).

Contacted for comment, Mohadi said he did not share a boundary with Ndou.

"I don't have a boundary with her (Ndou), but my son Campbell (Jr) is the one who was given land adjacent to hers," he said.

"The dispute over that land has been ongoing as Ndou failed to develop her land."

The minister accused the woman and other villagers of trying to tarnish his image because he was a prominent person.

"It could be that maybe my fence is broken and the cattle stray into my farm, but there is no way I can take her cattle because I have almost 800 cattle," he said.

"I will check with my manager on what's happening at the plot."

Ndou's lamentations come barely a week after complaints came from another villager, MacMillan Mbedzi, son of a war veteran - Given Mbedzi - who Mohadi is trying to evict.

The Mbedzis said Mohadi built a house on their plot next to where they wanted to build their own and the house has since been roofed.

The Mohadis' actions were in direct defiance of a High Court order issued three years ago, compelling them to remove a security fence they erected around the villagers' plots.

They were ordered not to interfere with the villagers' operations.

This was after four villagers - Mbedzi, Ndou, Aifheli Nare and Kumbirai Ncube - won a High Court case against the Mohadis over ownership of the land.

Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha in February 2012 ordered Mohadi, his wife Tambudzani, son Campbell and two of their farm employees to remove the illegal fence from the disputed land with immediate effect and at their own expense.

But the Zanu PF minister's family defied the order, while police, who fall under Mohadi's ministry, declined to accompany the Deputy Sheriff to pull down the fence.