The ManicaPost
THE 1 600 hectares Mbombovale Farm which is at the centre of a dispute between Makoni Rural District Council and local villagers was surrendered to the former by the Ministry of Local Government in 2006. This was confirmed by Makoni Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Edward Pise, who went on to say the deed of the grant was also cancelled.
“For the record, this farm (Mbombovale Farm) was surrendered to Makoni Rural District Council by the then Ministry of Local Government in 2006 and the deed of grant was cancelled. The farm was gazetted by Statutory Instrument 69 of 1999 and was declared a communal area,” said Mr Pise.
Mr Pise also availed correspondence from the director of finance and administration in the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development dated February 2, 2006 and signed by a S A Hlatshwayo detailing the handover of Mbombovale Trust Fund to Makoni Rural District Council.
“We decentralised the Mbombovale Trust Fund Account from this ministry which has been the custodian of the said fund to Makoni Rural District Council with effect from August 30, 2005. In this regard, all rentals shall be collected by the council. This ministry wishes to highlight that rentals are collected from various businessmen on the farm. These are owners of beer halls, bottle stores, butcheries to name, but a few. The rentals are charged depending on the type of business. All future revenues pertaining to the Mbombovale Farm should be collected by the Makoni Rural District Council,” reads the correspondence that was addressed to the Manicaland Provincial Administrator.
About 500 villagers who fall under the Mbombovale Farm situated at Nyabadza Business Centre along the Rusape-Nyanga Highway are accusing the local authority of stripping them of the ownership of the farm. They claim they have title to the land since 1926. The villagers claim that council which was given authority to administer the Mbombovale Trust Fund in 2005 has since stopped to do so despite collecting revenue from the area.
They also accused the council of selling business stands in the farm without notifying the affected villagers. Some of them are being displaced in the process. Mbombovale Farm Community chairman, Mr Christopher Makoni, said they had title deeds to the 1 591,26 hectare farm issued in 1926 and the council should stop attempts to disposes them of their ancestral land.
“Mbombovale Farm was in 1910 owned by a white settler syndicate of Andrew Lang, Jane Fill Murry and Andrew Hewett and in 1926 they sold the farm to the Maungwe Tribe who were our ancestors who originally occupied this land. The farm was bought for 1 000 pounds on August 4, 1922 and the transfer duty was 20 pounds. The farm was placed under the trusteeship of the then Chief Native Commissioner to carry out the objectives for which the land was acquired.
In 1969, Treasury approved the establishment of the Mbombovale Trust Fund under the trusteeship of the Secretary for Internal Affairs and in 1996 the fund was placed under the trusteeship of Secretary for Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development.
“To any informed mind, this is incontrovertible proof that the Mbombovale Farm Community owns and has title to this land. In 2005 the administration of the Trust Fund was decentralised from Local Government to Makoni Rural District Council and that is where our problems started,” said Mr Makoni.
Mr Makoni said instead for MRDC administering money collected from business and residents of Mbombovale, it allegedly claimed ownership of the farm and selling business stands in people’s plots without notice and compensation.
