Frustrated Southlea Park residents have taken Zanu PF central committee member Philip Chiyangwa to court seeking for an order to block him from extorting them cash amounting to over $42 million for settling at the government owned Odar farm.
Chiyangwa last year in September shocked Southlea Park residents when he from nowhere claimed that he owns Oder farm which was in 2006 seized from former white commercial farmers by the state for urban development.
The controversial politician in December threatened to evict over  8000 residents residing at the farm  if they fail to pay him $4500 per house hold as compensation.
In an  application which was filed by Southlea Park Home Owners Association to the  High Court through Mudanhi, Mugadza and company attorneys this week the residents said Chiyangwa had no right to demand compensation for the government farm.
“The purpose of this application is to seek for an order to set aside the transfer of the remainder of the farm-Odar to Sensene investments (Chiyangwa’s company) which land vested in the hands of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe after being duly acquired in terms of the Land Acquisition Act as the transfer was unfair, unreasonable and thus unlawful,”reads part of the application.
The farm was acquired by the government on June 16 2006 under deed of transfer 816/65 under government’s Garikai /Hlalani Kuhle programme.
The government in 2006, through the Ministry of Local Government, entered into an agreement with Odar for the consortium to establish a housing project and the arrangement was that government would compensate the previous farm owner, ZTA, for the improvements made on the farm and then receive its money back within 90 days from the consortium’s beneficiaries.
But despite the existence of these affirmations and the availability of an agreement between the government and Odar Farm, the government entered into another agreement with Zanu PF central committee member Chiyangwa on April 9 2015 to give the farm to Sensene Pvt Ltd, a company owned by Chiyangwa.