By A Correspondent
BULAWAYO– The High Court has delivered a damning verdict against the government’s takeover of Esidakeni Farm in Matabeleland North, describing the seizure as “irrational,” “unlawful,” and a gross violation of property rights. The court ordered the removal of several Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives and senior ZANU PF official Obert Mpofu from the land.
The 550-hectare Nyamandlovu property, jointly owned by human rights advocate Siphosami Malunga, scientist Zephaniah Dlamini, and miner Charles Moyo, was forcibly acquired by the state in 2020. The trio had legally purchased the farm in 2017 through a full acquisition of Kershelmer Farms (Private) Limited.
Despite their legal ownership, the Ministry of Lands went on to issue offer letters to a dozen individuals — including ZANU PF Secretary for Administration Obert Mpofu and high-ranking CIO officials — claiming the land was being repossessed for resettlement.
But Justice Bongani Ndlovu, in a judgment delivered on June 30, 2025, dismissed the acquisition as constitutionally flawed, politically motivated, and fundamentally unjust.
“The farm owners are indigenous Zimbabweans. They are black people. The liberation struggle was waged so that black people could reclaim the land. They, however, purchased this farm,” said Justice Ndlovu.
“The fact that the beneficial ownership of this land is in the hands of black Zimbabweans means that its acquisition is void. It is illegal.”
The judge said the state’s conduct violated both constitutional provisions and the very principles the land reform programme was meant to uphold.
“It is irrational in that it cannot satisfy the constitutional imperatives. It is contrary to the principle of legality,” he ruled. “This is not, and cannot be, the purpose of land redistribution. That taints the acquisition and renders it invalid.”
The court heard that the land seizure was allegedly engineered by Gatsha Mazithulela, then deputy director of the CIO, who had failed to muscle his way into the trio’s business partnership. Justice Ndlovu called out this abuse of state institutions and personal vendettas.
“Any policy that allows people to be stripped of property simply because they are critics of the ruling elite is uncouth. It is reminiscent of the Dark Ages,” said the judge.
He also challenged the rationale of redistributing land from one group of black Zimbabweans to another under the guise of empowerment.
“Acquired land must be given to landless indigenous Zimbabweans. How can land be taken from indigenous Zimbabweans and be parcelled out to other Zimbabweans?” “Are those beneficiaries more Zimbabwean than Malunga and the two others who jointly own the farm?”
Justice Ndlovu further ruled that the Ministry of Lands had violated due process by failing to formally notify Malunga, Dlamini, and Moyo prior to the acquisition. This omission, he said, rendered the entire process “arbitrary, malicious, and capricious.”
The court’s decision has been welcomed by legal experts and land rights activists, who see it as a landmark moment in reaffirming property rights and exposing the politicisation of land reform.
With the ruling now in their favour, Malunga, Dlamini, and Moyo are expected to regain full control of Esidakeni Farm — restoring not just their rights, but also hope for others facing similar injustices.