Chiredzi – Twenty-eight youth believed to be Zanu PF members have appeared at Chiredzi Magistrates Court charged with public violence for attacking and injuring occupants of an Airforce of Zimbabwe vehicle.
The youth who numbered over 808 were protesting against their eviction from Samba Ranch which has been taken over by Moses Chingwena, one of the co-owners of Croco Motors.
The Mirror today attended the court case presided over by Magistrate Simbarashe Gundani and all the accused were denied bail.
It is the State case that on Friday last week, Sifiso Kazela (17) of village 9 Samba Ranch, Triangle and 27 others attacked an Airforce of Zimbabwe vehicle resulting in the injury of the occupants.
The court heard that protests began when farmers were evicted from Wool Worts Investment Farm (Samba Ranch) by Chingwena who said that he was now the legal owner of the farm.
The evicted Farmers could not stomach it and started marching and demonstrating against their eviction.
Between 6 am and 10 am, the farmers who were demonstrating and chanting war songs met an Airforce vehicle that was going to collect Zesa poles for Mashambanhete Health Clinic.
The angry farmers then started throwing stones and attacking the vehicle with poles. The driver of the vehicle Erick Moyo Mpilo and the passengers sustained injuries.
This is not the first time that the farmers at Samba Ranch have demonstrated against eviction.
Meanwhile, there is an outcry over corruption at the Lands office in Chiredzi where there is a lot of double allocation of land.
