THE FOLLOWING IS A PRESS STATEMENT JUST RELEASED BY DAVID CONOLLY REGARDING THE ONGOING ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF HIS DAIRY AND IRRIGATION FARM BY A CIVIL SERVANT WHO ALREADY HAS TWO OTHER FARMS. PRESS STATEMENT David Conolly, Centenary Farm, Zimbabwe 16 September 2014 Zimbabwe: further contempt of court by senior civil servant, Dr Ray Ndhlukula on Centenary farm, Figtree At 11:45am on Thursday, 11 September 2014, two vehicles drove up the road to my homestead on Centenary Farm. They left 7 people on the lawn of my homestead and off loaded, amongst other things, several cartons of Chibuku beer. I braced myself knowing that a “pungwe” had obviously been organized to begin. Several suitcases were also deposited in my homestead garage. The people then came to within 10 metres of my front door and built a fire on my lawn. I asked what they were doing and they replied that they were there under the instruction of, and that they were “sons of,” Dr R. C. Ndhlukula. My brother immediately went to the Figtree police station but was informed that nothing could be done. It seems that they are able to continue to remain in contempt of High Court order number 1204/14 with impunity. At 2:30pm another vehicle without number plates drove into the yard of my homestead and another 6 people got out. They joined the original 7 on my lawn and the 13 began to drink heavily, scattering their empty beer containers all over the lawn. At 9.00pm that evening they stoked up the fire, turned on their radio and played loud music. During the night they began to howl and shriek and shout into the early hours. In the chaos of the morning, when they re-stoked the fire, my first thought was one of sadness: these people who said they were there under the direct “instruction” of a senior member of the Civil Service had not been behaving in a civil manner. At 9.00am on Friday, 12 September 2014, Mrs Ndhlukula arrived at the farm together with a truck loaded with belongings that were off loaded into the homes of my evicted workers. The John Deere 4-wheel drive tractor that had been on the farm previously was also driven back on to the farm. Mrs. Ndhlukula stood with two unknown gentlemen in the paddock in front of my homestead and held a lengthy discussion. She then left the farm. On the morning of Saturday 13 September, the John Deere tractor started up, hitched up a ripper and began to do land preparation in an irrigation field in front of my homestead. On 14 September, the Ndhlukula invaders took my irrigation pipes from my 300,000 onions that are still needing to be irrigated. My pipes were taken to the field where they were doing land preparation. We have 50,000 cabbage seedlings due to be planted out later this week which will not be able to be planted out if this lawlessness continues. They then slept on the verandah of my homestead where they have been sleeping ever since. This morning the invaders stopped my workers from working. We need to carry on harvesting and start planting the cabbages! At the beginning of August, after Dr Ndhlukula had openly said he would refuse to obey the High Court order in the presence of senior police, my lawyer wrote to the Ndhlukula lawyers on 4 August giving them time to rectify the situation where they were in clear contempt of court. Their response was to tell my workers to leave their homes by 6 August. They then forcefully evicted all my workers on 5 August – and police refused to stop this illegal eviction. The first working day after the Heroes holiday weekend (13 August) I filed an Urgent Application with the High Court for a contempt order of the High Court judgment handed down on 17 June in case number 1204/14. On 29 August 2014 Dr Ndhlukula’s legal representatives filed a notice of opposition. In it Dr Ndhlukula claimed that he had personally been given Centenary Farm by the President of Zimbabwe himself. I instructed my legal representatives to submit the further contempt actions to the court on 8 September 2014. On 25 August the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in his Monetary Policy Statement said there was a need for Zimbabwe to return back to basics and pointed out that a key part of this strategy is a respect for the rule of Law. He also advised Government to acknowledge its responsibilities and to compensate expropriated farmers. In Parliament earlier last week, the Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Sibanda (MDC-T), questioned whether President Robert Mugabe’s recent pronouncement(s) that all remaining white farmers should leave their farms was going to derail economic recovery still further. The Minister of Finance [Patrick Chinamasa] replied: “Everybody must abide by the law. The whole land reform program was to try and address historical imbalances without failure and excuse and when we say those whites must go, it is those resisting abiding by the law who are affected.” I wholeheartedly agree with the Minister that it is essential that we respect and abide by the rule of law. I have been careful to do this fully and take my concerns with lack of due process and disregard for the law, in this case to the High Court. I am aware that Dr Ndhlukula is not abiding by the order of the Zimbabwe High Court nor is he acting within the SADC Treaty and the final and binding Campbell Judgment from the SADC Tribunal. I am also aware that Dr Ndhlukula has other farms including Wildred Hope’s farm in Marula and Vlakfontein – otherwise known as subdivision 2 of Marula Block [see attached picture of his truck logo] - whilst I do not have any other farm. Even if the Zimbabwe Courts were to ultimately rule in favour of Dr Ndhlukula taking over my farm I am concerned that if I were to be evicted, violently or otherwise, there would be no compensation despite Zimbabwe law saying that I should be compensated. The Minister of Finance has allocated no money to the compensation fund in his budget, and thousands of farmers have been waiting for over a decade for the law to be complied with and compensation to be paid. In June 2014 Dr Ndhlukula was in Europe filing papers against the European Union over “sanctions” on the Government of Zimbabwe. It seems that he expects succour and relief from a European Court when he does not display respect for the rulings of the High Court of Zimbabwe. I understand that on 1 November the European Union is discussing giving direct support to the Government of Zimbabwe of 330 million Euros over the next 5 years. I would like representatives of the European Union and others from the International community to be present at the contempt hearing in the High Court – to see whether the rule of law is to be upheld by the Government of Zimbabwe, and whether its officials are to be held accountable. David Conolly Centenary Farm Figtree, Zimbabwe Note: Dr Ray Ndhlukula is the deputy secretary in the office of the President and Cabinet Dr Ray Ndlukula’s lorry has a sign on it with a Marula Block logo, which reads: Ray’s Farm plc Subdivision 2 Marula Block Mangwe
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 07:38:41 +0000
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