Evicted Farmer Planted Prize-Winning Tobacco

Source from:  By Tererai Karimakwenda swradioafrica.com 08/04/2005

Yesterday we reported how Monica Chinamasa, wife of the Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, accepted an award as the BAT Tobacco Grower of the Year in Harare Friday night even though she stole the farm now known as Tsukumai in Headlands. Mrs Chinamasa received Z$25 million in prize money but it was evicted farmer Richard Yates who had put in the tobacco seed beds. The Chinamasas intimidated him and finally evicted him in late 2003. Yates lost everything he had and moved his family to Australia to survive. A farmer who knew Yates in Headlands said he tried to handle the matter legally in the courts with no success. Mrs Chinamasa is known to have destroyed another farm in Marondera before evicting Yates from the Headlands area. John Worsley Worswick of Justice for Agriculture said back in 2002-2003, Mr.s Chinamsa took over a farm from Peter Baker and destroyed his wheat crop. The farm had a dam from which she diverted water for her wheat crop, but she under-estimated how much water the wheat would need, and the whole crop died. Anger from people on the ground whom she had affected by this forced her to flee the area and she wound up taking the farm in Headlands. Worswick said companies like British American Tobacco (BAT), sponsors of the Tobacco Grower of the Year award, should not award officials for stealing and should take into effect that the farm on which Mrs Chinamasa grew her tobacco was stolen. Enditem