Mary Chiwenga is reportedly set to lose the 300-hectare farm located along Domboshawa Road that she grabbed from the Agriculture Rural Development Authority (Arda) in February 2018.
The farm was used to produce crop seed for farmers by the authority. Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Mary Mubaiwa Chiwenga is facing another major headache as she is set to lose her farm.
However, Mary finally managed to get her hands on the farm following the November 2017 military coup, after her first attempt to get the property in 2013 failed.
When she grabbed the farm, she claimed that she wanted to build a school and insisted that everything was done above board with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Resettlement.
Following her spectacular fall from her husband’s good graces, she is set to lose the farm as she has lost her proximity to power. The couple is going through a nasty divorce which has seen Mary bearing the brunt of the fight after she was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) allegedly at the behest of Chiwenga.
A source who spoke to online publication the Zim Morning Post revealed that Mary had attempted to get a loan from CBZ to in an attempt to legitimise the farm grab. However, the bank refused to approve the loan.
The source said,
“She recently applied for a loan at CBZ but did not get the green light from the bank. She wanted to use the loan to buy out Arda which was actually renting another farm after soldiers ordered them out at Mary’s behest.”
A lawyer who spoke to the publication added,
“These are what I call spoils of war. You cannot sympathise with her, taking into regard the way she took over the farm. People should not abuse their proximity to power to settle personal wars, and this also applies to Chiwenga and Marry.”
The embattled former model regained her freedom this week after being released on $50 000 bail by the High Court. She spent three weeks in custody and is facing numerous allegations which include, six counts of illegally externalizing funds well worth over one million United States Dollars, five for money laundering and one for fraud where she allegedly forged a marriage certificate.
The charges allege that she illegally solemnized a secret marriage presided over by Acting Chief Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi without Chiwenga’s consent. She is also facing charges of attempting to kill the Vice President when he was critically ill in South Africa.
Source – iHarare/Zim Morning Post