Africa News
Zim courts halts farm evictions linked to Grace Mugabe─── 05:29 Tue, 13 Jan 2015
Harare - A judge in Zimbabwe on Monday ordered a halt to the eviction of scores of families from a farm that has been linked to President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace, a lawyers' association said.
"Zimbabwe High Court Judge Erica Ndewere orders that Zim authorities should halt Mazowe house demolitions and evictions," the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a tweet.
ZLHR lawyers were representing some of the 150 or so families reported evicted from Manzou Estate in the central Mazowe district last week. The villagers believe they are being evicted by the First Lady who wants to set up a game park on the land.
Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party has denied this, arguing on Sunday that Grace is a "kind-hearted" person and that the evictions have nothing to do with her.
A senior party official in the province says the estate is actually a national heritage site and not fit for human habitation.
But quotes have surfaced from a rally Grace, 49, gave before a key party congress in December in which the First Lady allegedly said she had "applied for a conservancy in this area".
She's reported to have said she wanted to use the land to raise money for orphans. The president's wife runs an orphanage in Mazowe on a seized white farm.
ZLHR said in another tweet in reference to Monday's court ruling: "Our human rights lawyers Tonderai Bhatasara and Gift Mtisi are the real Mazowe Crushers."
Sapa
