RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 2009 Vol 11, Mining and Industry Indaba
Zim farmer guilty of 'occupation'
A Harare farmer who was awaiting instructions from the Zimbabwe government on whether he could continue farming has been found guilty of occupying his own farm without authority.
A Harare farmer who was awaiting instructions from the Zimbabwe government on whether he could continue farming has been found guilty of occupying his own farm without authority.
Mark Ford Surtees, the owner of Xekene Estate in Beatrice, on the outskirts of the capital Harare, will be sentenced next week.
Magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini ruled for the state, which had accused Surtees of "using or occupying" Xekene Estate "without lawful authority from the state".
Surtees had argued that the government's failure to respond to his letter requesting permission to stay on the farm - albeit after it was gazetted as state land - implied he had done nothing illegal.
The distressed farmer said he had not been able to find out if he could remove his livestock, equipment and materials from the farm.
Late on Wednesday, the MDC made its sternest condemnation of the latest wave of farm disruptions taking place across the country.
The MDC said: "Since the formation of the inclusive government, six farmers have been abducted and 16 arrested for allegedly blocking the land reform programme
