Posted 17th July 2001

Who's Right For Those Left in Zimbabwe
From Jim Holland

At about 11 am this morning, my wife Sekai Holland was driving from Harare city centre to our home in Avondale after completing preparations to go to Mberengwa in the afternoon, when her driver noticed that an unmarked white Land Rover Defender had done a U-turn as they passed it, and that it appeared to be following them. He thought it was vehicle that is being used by Chinotimba, a leading Zanu PF thug, so he increased speed and tried to get away, but the vehicle kept chasing them. After a circuitous route they finally drove up our street blowing the horn and our security guard opened the gate, let them in and then tried to shut it again to block the Land Rover that was close behind. I heard the commotion and went to the front door of the house to see what was going on. At that point I heard a shot being fired. I saw the Land Rover at the gate, and it seemed to have a full load of about eight people in it, with one of them pointing a pistol towards the house. Our security guard was lying on the ground and it appeared that he had been shot.

Sekai and her driver managed to get inside the house and we then locked all doors and windows. We heard further shots outside the house and then unidentified people started banging on the doors and windows demanding that we come outside. I assumed at that stage that it was an assassination squad so we ignored their demands and kept under cover. I phoned the local police and asked a friend to contact all the journalists and other relevant contacts she had to say that our lives were being threatened. Outside I could see that several MDC personnel who had been in the vehicle with Sekai were being held on the ground at gunpoint by three men in plain clothes armed with pistols. I feared the worst.

While we waited the gunmen circled the house, peering into windows and shouting for us to come out. Finally, one of them - for the first time - announced that they were police, and that they wanted us to open up so that they could interview the driver of my wife's vehicle. As he didn't let us see his identity card, or explain why he wanted to interview the driver, we refused. After what seemed like an hour the local police arrived - on foot, as they said that they had no transport. We then had a "dialogue" through one of the barred windows of the house. They told us that the gunmen were from the CID and that we should talk to them. I refused to discuss anything unless one of them let me inspect his Identity card.

After much heated argument he finally agreed. He then claimed that they had been looking for a gang of hijackers who were travelling around in a blue Rustler pickup and that our vehicle looked suspicious. I pointed out that it was a white Mazda B1800 that bore no similarity whatsoever to a blue Rustler. He said "but they keep changing vehicles . . ."

My wife then joined us at the window to listen to what the gunmen had to say. When they said they were from the CID car theft division, Sekai pointed out that the vehicle she had been driving in had in fact been stolen for nine months by a ZRP police officer who now lives in London. She showed them a photograph of the thief that had been obtained by MDC security. She said that she had been harassed for the past week because of her election challenge which comes up in court on 28 July. She also pointed out that last year a group of men armed with AK47 rifles had also invaded our house with a similar excuse about investigating her car. That had been an hour before she was due to meet with Don McKinnon - the Commonwealth Secretary-General - who was visiting Harare at the time.

The leader of the gunmen (now holding a vicious-looking spike in his hand) initially denied firing any shots, but eventually said that it was necessary in order to stop Sekai's vehicle. He admitted that at no stage during the chase or before the shots were fired had they identified themselves as being police. He said anyone being followed by a white Defender ought to know that it was a police vehicle and ought to stop! (I did point out the absurdity of this, saying that we had once owned a white Land Rover ourselves, and that in these days of hijackings the last thing you would want to do would be to stop to talk to a vehicle full of men who were clearly following you with ill intent.)

Eventually quite a crowd of people had gathered, including employees from a security company, various journalists, an MDC MP and other MDC security personnel. Only at that point did I feel it was safe for us to go outside and talk to the alleged "police". They kept excusing their behaviour by saying they were just following a suspicious vehicle which had refused to stop. They wanted to know if it had been stolen, and if the people in it were involved in hijackings. They gave no explanation for their failure to identify themselves until the local police arrived, no explanation for shooting at a house with ordinary civilians and children around.

Finally the gunmen left, denying that this was political harassment. Only at that stage could I talk to the people who had been held at gunpoint. They said they had been chased by the "police" who fired pistols and then punched and kicked them once they had surrendered. One had handcuffs put on him that were painfully tight and injured his wrists. Others had bruises and lacerations. As everyone was leaving, one of the journalists pointed to a hole in our front window which I had not noticed before. We went inside and found broken glass and the slug from the bullet which had been fired from the Land Rover at the gate. It had fortunately missed our security guard by inches and smashed into the window at head height - but clearly the "police" had been shooting to kill.

Presidental Setback Harare

President Robert Mugabe has suffered a new blow to his attempt to seize white land after a court ruled that it would hear no more applications to approve confiscations until the rule of law had been restored on the country's commercial farmland. The ruling on Wednesday by Judge Alfas Chitakunye of the administrative court meant that "government acquisition of the land was illegal in terms of the law, until law and order is restored", advocate Adrian de Bourbon said on Thursday. Approval by the administrative court is the last step in a complex legal and bureaucratic process in the "compulsory acquisition of land" by the government, and where owners can object to the confiscation of their land. If the court finds the government has taken all steps laid down by the law, the government can formally declare the land to be state property and evict the owner. However, in December last year the supreme court gave the government six months in which to end the anarchy on thousands of white-owned farms invaded by ruling party militias and illegally declared "state property" by government officials. The deadline expired on July 1. On Wednesday, in the first case since then, the court sat to hear objections from farmer Chris Grobler over the seizing of his farm in the Makoni district. The court found against the state......

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