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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
The High Court has reserved judgment in the case in which over 600 Kingsdale Farm residents are seeking to stop evictions and demolitions of their dwellings until the dispute is finalised. In the meantime, all evictions and demolitions have been suspended until judgment is delivered on a later date. This is the second time the High Court has halted the evictions and demolitions in Kingsdale Farm since the hearing of the matter began last week.

After all the parties presented their arguments on Monday, Justice Felistas Chatukuta reserved ruling saying she needed ample time to make an appropriate decision.

Norton legislator Mr Temba Mliswa and Kingsdale residents are fighting land developer Maparahwe Properties for demolishing houses belonging to co-operatives allocated stands on the farm.

Through their lawyer, Advocate Keith Kachambwa, Mr Mliswa and the residents argued that Maparahwe was in contempt of court for refusing to comply with the Constitutional Court order which resolved the dispute.

They argue the developer was acting unlawfully in approaching the magistrates’ court for eviction orders, breaching the Constitutional Court.

Adv Kachambwa said there was no way a magistrate’s decision could override the decision of the highest court in the land.

On its part, Maparahwe Properies represented by Mr Cuthbert Mpame, argued that affected residents had an alternative remedy to rescind the lower court’s decision in the magistrates’ court.

Government acquired Kingsdale Farm in 2006 at the height of the land reform programme and allotted it to housing co-operatives and other private purchasers.

Several allottees took occupation of the land and built their structures. In an urgent application filed at the High Court last week, Mr Mliswa sought to have all the evictions and demolitions stayed until the finalisation of the matter. He argued that there was also a pending case at the Administrative Court involving the same parties.

The legislator accused Maparahwe Properties of defying the Constitutional Court order, which dealt with the dispute in 2015.

It was also Mr Mliswa’s contention that Maparahwe Properties had resold over 370 stands allocated to the co-operatives. The continued private sale of already occupied stands, Mr Mliswa said, had caused mayhem and disharmony in his constituency.