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By A Correspondent — Vice President Kembo Mohadi’s son, Mafenyadira, has been dragged into the eviction of 21 families from Manzou Farm in Mazowe, Mashonaland Central province. At least 21 families are sleeping in the open after they were violently evicted from a farm in Mashonaland Central province early this week, in a case that exposes the persistent involvement of senior political figures in land disputes. The eviction, carried out on Monday, saw families dumped along the Harare–Bindura Highway with their damaged belongings after being forced out of Arnold Farm in Mazowe. The property, also known as Manzou Farm, has a long and controversial history and has previously been linked to powerful politicians, including former First Lady Grace Mugabe, who once tried to remove settlers from the same land. In the latest eviction, victims described a brutal and chaotic process in which they were given only minutes to remove their belongings before their homes were set ablaze. The operation left many, including children, stranded and exposed at the start of the rainy season. “The eviction was so cruel. We were told to remove our property within minutes,” said Pearson Tagara, one of the affected villagers. “This resulted in furniture like kitchen units, wardrobes and beds being damaged as we rushed to move. It’s heartbreaking.” Soon after, the villagers said, their huts were torched. The 1,245-hectare Arnold Farm, located near the scenic Mazowe Dam, has long been at the centre of political controversy and contested ownership. The latest eviction appears to be the climax of a long-running dispute over the property, with villagers accusing Vice President Mohadi’s son, Mafenyadira, of orchestrating the removals. The victims are appealing for government intervention, saying they have been left destitute and without shelter. “We are suffering abuse that is ill-timed, depriving us of our right to peace and shelter,” said one of the displaced settlers. Efforts to obtain comment from Mafenyadira Mohadi were unsuccessful by the time of publication. Tensions over the same farm had been brewing for months. In December last year, more than 300 villagers staged a demonstration at Arnold Farm to resist what they described as Mafenyadira’s attempts to evict them. They accused him of unleashing state security agents to intimidate residents and of erecting fences around the property. Reports at the time indicated that he had deployed security guards to patrol the area at night, leading to several arrests for alleged trespassing. Speaking through his cousin, Hardlife Samuwi, in an interview with NewsDay at the time, Mafenyadira confirmed the clashes, accusing villagers of being violent. “I understand that violent illegal settlers at Old Arnold Farm in Mazowe demonstrated, vandalised property and harmed security guards at Vice-President Mohadi’s son’s place over a farm he was allocated by the Ministry of Lands,” Samuwi said. “Our farm hand had his hand broken by these illegal settlers.” The latest eviction is not the first at Manzou Farm. In March 2017, police forcibly removed villagers from the same property, demolishing homes and destroying crops under the pretext of establishing a national monument and expanding business interests linked to the then First Lady, Grace Mugabe. Following that incident, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights intervened, resulting in a High Court ruling in favour of the villagers and a temporary halt to their eviction. Despite that ruling, Manzou Farm has remained a flashpoint for politically charged land conflicts involving some of the country’s most powerful figures. Reports have also suggested that First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has shown interest in the same property, further underscoring the deep political contestation over its ownership. As the displaced families now camp along the roadside with their belongings scattered and their homes reduced to ashes, their ordeal once again highlights the human cost of Zimbabwe’s unresolved land politics — a system where ordinary citizens continue to suffer while the powerful battle over land and privilege.
