OVER 100 families who were last week evicted from the Anglican Church-owned Cyrene Farm at Mcwazini area in Figtree, Matabeleland South Province, by the Sheriff of the High Court, have since returned to the property.

The villagers were in 2003 ordered by the High Court under case number HC2444/03 to vacate the property within seven days following an application by the Anglican Church.

The villagers were served with the eviction papers on Wednesday last week, two decades after they had occupied the farm at the height of the land reform programme in 2000.

According to the writ of ejectment, the eviction order followed a judgment by High Court Judge President Justice George Chiweshe directing the villagers who were represented by six members, to vacate the farm.

The order granted by Justice Chiweshe reads: “The respondents and any persons claiming through them as well as other persons presently in unlawful occupation of Cyrene Farm, Figtree, be and are hereby ordered to vacate Cyrene Farm together with all their property and possessions immediately upon service of this order, failure of which the Deputy Sheriff with the assistance of officer-in-charge Figtree are hereby authorised and directed to evict the respondents.”

The farm has been at the centre of a wrangle between the Anglican Diocese Church of Matabeleland and the villagers who argue that they were allowed to remain on the farm by the Government after it gazetted the property for land redistribution on November 14, 2014 under General Notice 467 of 2014.

When Chronicle visited the farm yesterday, most of the villagers had returned to the property insisting that their stay was within the confines of the law.

Mcwazini Village secretary Mr Lutha Maduna said tempers flared soon after villagers were served with the eviction order and anti-riot police had to intervene.

“We were busy conducting our routine chores when the Sheriff of the High Court accompanied by Anglican Church officials, a group of youths and police arrived at the farm. The Sheriff produced an eviction order and they started removing our properties,” he said.

“In some cases, tempers flared as villagers resisted the move and police had to intervene to save the situation from degenerating into chaos. This is not the first time that we have been evicted and what is shocking is that at one time the Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs visited the farm and assured us that no one would evict us.”- Chronicle