Harare — Government is not bound by last week's Sadc Tribunal judgement allowing two white former farmers to go back to the farms they held and resume operations, arguing any determination by the body is of no consequence to Zimbabwe, a Cabinet Minister revealed yesterday.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said the Sadc Tribunal was free to make as many such judgements as possible against Zimbabwe, adding that this would not change the country's position on white former commercial farmers who held land that was taken under the land reform programme.

Minister Chinamasa was responding to a ruling made last week by the regional tribunal allowing two Zimbabwean white farmers to continue living and working on the land.

The farmers, Louis Fick and Michael Campbell had approached the tribunal, challenging the stance by Zimbabwe to repossess land for agricultural purposes.

The farmers had also appealed against a High Court decision declining to register the Sadc Tribunal decision against Zimbabwean authorities.

But in an interview yesterday, Minister Chinamasa said Government's position on the Sadc Tribunal remained the same that it did not recognise its judgements.

"Our position remains the same that we don't recognise the Sadc Tribunal for reasons that we have given before. The farmers can have as many such judgements as they can but they will be of no effect in our jurisdiction," he said.

"The farmers are wasting their time and money and are only going there for propaganda purposes. They are entitled to play their propaganda by going to the Tribunal but we will not recognise the judgement," he said.

Since the Sadc Tribunal made a determination against Zimbabwean authorities, Government has refused to recognise the judgements saying the protocol creating the Tribunal had not yet been ratified by two third majority Sadc members.

"Only five members have ratified it," Minister Chinamasa said.

Sadc is made up of 14 member-states.

By The Herald

Comments(1):

1. To help the cause of a few white farmers

   Mike Campbell would help himself and the cause of the few white farmers left by telling us when did he really buy the estate his family lived on for decades.

   Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Christian