By Own Correspondent- A minister’s son has taken a successful Chipinge farmer to court to force him off a farm.

Manicaland minister, Ellen Gwarazimba’s son, Remembrance, dragged retired Swiss banker, Richard Le Vieux, who has established a reputable business of exporting coffee, avocados and macadamia nuts for the past 30 years,to court for failing to vacate part of FarFell Coffee Estate.

In a warned and cautioned statement recorded by one Assistant Inspector Makovere at Chipinge Rural Police Station, Mbudzana (40) believes that the white commercial farmer was unlawfully occupying the land.

“I know the accused person, namely Richard Le Vieux as a director of Farfell Coffee Estate referred as the first accused person. On January 10 2019, I successfully applied for A2 model resettlement and I was allocated land by the acquiring authority at Lot 1 of Farfell Coffe Estate, Chipinge, measuring 229,400 hectares through an offer letter,” the letter read.

“I immediately approached the officers of the provincial land who took me to the said land. I was shown the boundaries of the farm physically against a respective map which I also now see before the court as an exhibit.”

He said Vieux refused to vacate the land on January 17.

Le Vieux pleaded not guilty to contravening section 3(2) ()a) as read with section (3)(3) of the Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act (occupying gazetted land without lawful authority) when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Farai Gwitima.

He was remanded out of custody to May 29 for the continuation of trial.