A case has been reported to Police against the Minister of State for Manicaland, Ellen Gwaradzimba after she withdrew a 206 hectare farm in Chipinge from a senior Zanu PF official and gave it to her biological son, Remembrance Mbudzana.

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Gwaradzimba confirmed the development in an interview with Chipinge Times this morning.

Chipinge Times gathered that Gwaradzimba who is not new to land issue controversies went to Deelfointein Farm in Ward 12, Chipinge East and parceled it out to her son who got 206 hectares and gave 60 other hectares to two Zanu PF youth, Bernard Mhlanga and Ashirai Mawere who each got 30 hectares.

The farm belongs to Big Chitima, a lecturer at Hebert Chitepo School of Ideology and Zanu PF’s district coordinating committee secretary for Harare.

Chipinge Times is in possession of an offer letter to Chitima which was signed by the then Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Perrance Shiri on October 18, 2019. The letter gives him subdivision R/E of Deelfointein Estate A for agricultural purposes and the farm measures 250 hectares.

Big Chitima’s sister, Dorothy Mabika who is also Zanu PF vice chairperson for Manicaland and manages the farm confirmed the development but declined to comment further.

The matter was reported to Chipinge Police Station. Gwaradzimba said the reallocation of the farm to her son and two Zanu PF youth was approved by Cabinet. She said that according to records there is no one who has been allocated that farm.

“This place I am talking about is between Mai Mabika’s farm and Provincial Development Co-ordinator Edgars Sevenza’s farm. There is no one in this place and this is according to records and information from the technical team. There is a farm that belonged to Chitima’s late mother near the same place and I will not be foolish to take that one because I know she had children,” said Gwaradzimba.

She said that her son has been without a farm for too long after he failed to get Farfell Farm in Chipinge. His allocation of Farfell was reversed following an outcry.

Mawere confirmed that he was allocated a farm by Gwaradzimba but Mhlanga however, dismissed the allegations. Mhlanga said he last got a farm a few years back. Chitima could not be reached on his phone.

Although Mhlanga refuted the allegations, there is a WhatsApp message supposedly posted by him in which he brags about getting a farm direct from Aunty Gwa (Gwaradzimba is popularly referred to as Aunty Gwa).

“Zvinofadza sei kutsikirwa pamunda nemukuru we Province, Aunty Gwa,” reads the message. -Masvingo Mirror