By Staff Reporter
The government has issued another Statutory Instrument (SI) which repeals Statutory Instrument 50 of 2021 which had legalized the eviction of Chilonga people from their ancestral lands in Chiredzi.
The eviction was planned to pave way for the production of Lucerne grass project by Dendairy.
Local government minister July Moyo issued SI 72A of 2021 which announces the repealing of SI 50. Reads SI 72A in part:
2. The area of land described hereunder in terms of the Schedule shall be set aside with effect from the date of publication of this notice for the purpose of establishing an irrigation scheme.
3. The Communal Land (Setting Aside Land) (Chiredzi) Notice, 2021, published in Statutory Instrument 50 of 2021, is repealed.
The evictions had attracted a public outcry with stakeholders arguing that the government was violating domestic and international human rights laws.
Meanwhile, MDC Alliance Vice President, Tendai Biti who is also a law expert has claimed that the repealing of SI50 changes nothing since the SI that effected the seizure of land by the state is not SI 50.
He said:
Land was taken away in terms of SI 51 of 2021. That has not been repealed. So nothing has changed.
Biti who was recently recalled from Parliament is one of the people who have been vocal against the evictions.
