Zimbabwe church issues eviction notice to Mugabe in an attempt to reclaim confiscated land

A church in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare has sent an eviction notice to former President Robert Mugabe's family in an attempt to reclaim a land that was confiscated in 2015.

According to Africa News, the Mugabe-owned Gushungo Holdings has allegedly taken a 23-hectare property that once belonged to Eaglesvale Group of Schools, which is owned by the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ).

The school's board chairperson, Enos Chomutiri, said that Eaglesvale held the title deeds to the land since 1978, but the Mugabes claimed they had title to the land, which the family acquired from the government in 2015 after the property was designated for compulsory acquisition.

Eaglesvale reportedly wanted to build a campus on the property, but it was allegedly grabbed by Grace Mugabe with the help of former Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo without the school's knowledge.

Last week, Eaglesvale reportedly went to the property and erected a billboard showing that the property belonged to the church under the Eaglesvale Daisyfield Trust (EDT).

However, the billboard was torn down five days later after the intervention of the Mugabe family and the police.

The school's lawyer, Rodney Makausi, said that an eviction letter, dated Jan. 23, has been sent to security officials at Mugabe's Blue Roof residence in Borrowdale Brooke.

"Our clients have notified us that you have illegally occupied their above-mentioned piece of land without their authority and without any lawful or just cause," the letter stated.

"They have notified us that you have now planted maize crops (sic) on the said piece of land without their authority. Our clients have now asked us to demand, as we hereby do, that you vacate the said piece of land within the course of the next seven days from date of this letter, failing which our instructions are to institute proceedings for your eviction without further notice," it continued.

According to PaZimbabwe, Chombo designated the land to build the Robert Mugabe Memorial Centre. However, the Administrative Court declared the move unlawful, saying the government's compulsory land acquisition policy does not apply to privately-owned urban land.

In its submission before the court, RCZ contended that the land was meant for public infrastructure and could not be acquired by the government.

The school is currently operating from rented premises in the Willowvale industrial area and had intended to move to the property in Borrowdale.

The Mugabe family has been involved in several land disputes, particularly in Mazowe, where Grace Mugabe allegedly confiscated land belonging to citrus firm Interfresh and was on the verge of throwing out villagers at Manzou Farm.