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Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter

Thousands of residents settled at Whitecliff Farm near Harare will not be evicted as Government will soon regularise the settlement by engaging the owner of the property, Mr Eddies Pfugari, and either compensate him or provide him alternative land, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has said.

VP Chiwenga, who is also Zanu-PF Second Secretary, said this at Whitecliff Farm in Zvimba district, during a campaign rally aimed at drumming up support for the revolutionary party

“Those who have been settled at Whitecliff you will remain put at that farm,” he said. “You will not be evicted. As Government we will engage the owner to hear what he wants. We will either compensate him or give him alternative land.

“He should understand and be considerate. We cannot allow all these people in their thousands to be evicted.”

VP Chiwenga said Government would work towards the regularisation of their settlement.

His remarks followed a failed bid three years ago by Government to regularise the compulsory acquisition of Whitecliff Farm after the Supreme Court threw out its appeal.

The Supreme Court struck off the roll the challenge by the then Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement against the Administrative Court’s decision to dismiss Government’s confirmation application.

In terms of Section 20 of the Administrative Act, a party can only appeal against an interlocutory order by first seeking leave to do so.

But Government went straight to the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Administrative Court, which the court of appeal ruled to be interlocutory.

Last year, the Administrative Court threw out an application by Government to validate the compulsory acquisition of Whitecliff Farm because settlers allocated the land by the State were still on the land in defiance of a 2012 Supreme Court order.