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Auxilia Katongomara and Mashudu Netsianda Chronicle Reporters
THE Roman Catholic Church is locked in a protracted legal wrangle with 64 villagers in Dete whom it wants evicted for allegedly illegally settling at its two farms in Hwange district. The church through its lawyers, Webb, Low and Barry last week filed a court application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking an order compelling the 64 villagers to vacate the properties.

The church’s Hwange Diocese Bishop, Father Joseph Albert Serrano Anton, in his founding affidavit, said the church resorted to evicting the villagers led by Micmas Sibanda to pave way for the construction of Advanced Level classroom blocks at Marist Brothers School.

“The school now wants to introduce A- Level classes as a fully-fledged boarding school. We need to use the farms for dairy and cattle ranching so that we’re able to subsidize the pupils’ school fees since our catchment area is general poverty stricken,” he said

Father Anton said the disputed farms known as Remainder of Railway Farm 43 and Nazareth Ranch in Dete were purchased by the church in 1966 and in 1977 with the intention of moving St Mary’s Mission Secondary School, the Seminary and the Sister’s Convent, to the acquired property.

“This is an application for an order evicting the first to 64 respondents and all those claiming under or through them Nazareth Ranch and Remainder of Railway Farm 43. The two plots were purchased by the Diocese of Hwange, the first in 1966 and the second in 1977 and they were consolidated thereafter and for legal purposes the properties were registered under the name of the Bishop of the Hwange Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church,” said Father Anton.

He said the church enjoyed peaceful occupation of the farms until 2006 when the villagers led by Sibanda occupied the properties claiming to have been authorised by the late local headman Andrew Bitu.

“Since 2006, I have been attempting to evict the respondents through peaceful measures and negotiations by the Vicar-General, Father Marko Rumuma and the priests but they refused to vacate the farms and instead chose to approach the district lands officer,” said Father Anton.

On October 30, 2013, the church through the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, wrote a letter to President Robert Mugabe in which he recommended that the villagers be persuaded to vacate the farms peacefully by June 2014.

According to the letter, Mudenda also recommended that the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement and the Office of Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs assist the villagers to relocate in terms of the government’s Resettlement Policy and Procedure.

Father Anton also seeks an order directing the Matabeleland North police to demolish the villagers’ structures on the farms.

“As such I’m seeking the assistance of this honourable court to protect my rights as the owner of the farms. I request an order that the respondents vacate the farms failure of which they be forcibly evicted,” he said.

The respondents have not yet filed opposing papers challenging the application.