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Zimbabwe farm workers left homeless after arbitrary eviction
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
October 07, 2013

Eight families have been left homeless after a “new farmer” evicted them from their lodgings following a protest they staged for non-payment of their wages.

Felix Pambukani, who took over Wakefield Farm in Chegutu, Mashonaland West province during the government endorsed chaotic and haphazard land grab exercise teamed up with his family members, some plot holders in the surrounding farming area and other sympathetic farm workers to conduct the unlawful eviction during a period preceding the harsh summer season without a valid court order in violation of Section 74 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which provides for freedom from arbitrary eviction.

During the eviction, some of the families’ property was destroyed as Pambukani and his militant allies removed some walls and window panes from their residences thereby exposing their possessions to the elements and vagaries of nature and harsh weather in clear violation of the law.

So violent was the eviction that four farm workers were left hospitalised after sustaining injuries from the assault meted out on them by Pambukani and his associates, who used truncheons in battering the employees.

The farm workers and their families are currently camped in the open along the Harare-Chegutu highway with their young children and possessions.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Republic Police on Sunday 06 October 2013 began recording statements from the farm employees after the workers’ lawyer Kennedy Masiye from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights filed a report at Chegutu Police Station on Saturday 5 October 2013 on behalf of the eight families. The police had been reluctant in taking action from an initial report filed at Selous Police Station by the workers.

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