(TALKZIMBABWE) Sadc Tribunal ruling meaningless: Minister

Sadc Tribunal ruling meaningless: Minister
By: TH-TZG reporters
Posted: Monday, July 19, 2010 6:24 pm

GOVERNMENT is not bound by last week’s Sadc Tribunal judgment allowing two white former farmers to go back to the farms they held and resume operations, arguing any determination by the body is of no consequence to Zimbabwe, a Cabinet Minister revealed yesterday.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said the Sadc Tribunal was free to make as many such judgments as possible against Zimbabwe, adding that this would not change the country’s position on white former commercial farmers who held land that was taken under the land reform programme.

Minister Chinamasa was responding to a ruling made last week by the regional tribunal allowing two Zimbabwean white farmers to continue living and working on the land.

The farmers, Louis Fick and Michael Campbell had approached the tribunal, challenging the stance by Zimbabwe to repossess land for agricultural purposes.

The farmers had also appealed against a High Court decision declining to register the Sadc Tribunal decision against Zimbabwean authorities.

But in an interview yesterday, Minister Chinamasa said Government’s position on the Sadc Tribunal remained the same that it did not recognise its judgments.

"Our position remains the same that we don’t recognise the Sadc Tribunal for reasons that we have given before.

"The farmers can have as many such judgments as they can, but they will be of no effect in our jurisdiction," he said.

"The farmers are wasting their time and money and are only going there for propaganda purposes.

"They are entitled to play their propaganda by going to the Tribunal but we will not recognise the judgment," he said.

Since the Sadc Tribunal made a determination against Zimbabwean authorities, Government has refused to recognise the judgments saying the protocol creating the Tribunal had not yet been ratified by two thirds majority Sadc members.

"Only five members have ratified it," Minister Chinamasa said.

Sadc is made up of 14 member-states.

In its judgment made by Justice Jamu Mutambo, the Tribunal granted the application by farmers on the basis that Zimbabwe had failed to comply with previous orders.

"The tribunal also grants the relief sought by the applicants to have this matter referred to the upcoming Sadc summit," Justice Mutambo ruled.

The annual summit will be held in the Namibian capital Windhoek next month when President Hifikepunye Pohamba will take over the chairmanship from Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The two farmers had appealed to the Sadc tribunal after the Zimbabwean high court refused to register and comply with a previous ruling that allowed the white farmers to continue living and working on their land.