A 42-year-old woman, Nancy Rikitai Gwaindepi, was arrested on Monday along with her two-year-old baby and a neighbour in Clipsham, Masvingo, following a dispute over land allegedly being taken over by Chivi North legislator Godfrey Mukungunugwa. They were released the next day.
Gwaindepi claims the MP is grabbing more than four adjacent plots, each measuring 1.5 hectares, in the prime peri-urban agricultural area. The family, including her husband Prichard Tafirenyika Masocks and their 11-year-old son, are among over 700 residents facing eviction from land they have occupied for over two decades.
The evictions, according to affected plot holders, involve Zanu PF politicians and senior government officials, some of whom already own sugarcane farms in Chiredzi. The residents say they possess offer letters issued by the former Minister of Lands, while the new occupants have fresh letters from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
The arrest occurred when Gwaindepi pleaded with men erecting a fence on her plot. A police vehicle arrived, and she, her baby, and a neighbour were taken to the police station and locked up overnight. The following day they were released.
Mukungunugwa confirmed the incident but insisted the plot belongs to his brother, Day Mukungunugwa, who was allocated the land by the Ministry in September 2025. He described Gwaindepi as an illegal occupant and claimed he had never visited the plot. He asked that the story not be published, fearing reputational damage.
Police provincial spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said Gwaindepi’s name was not in their records, contradicting the MP’s confirmation. The family says two of their children, aged 16 and 19, have disappeared from home due to the harassment, and they do not know their whereabouts.
The land dispute has been ongoing since last year, with residents receiving verbal notices to vacate. Moffat Chikozho, 72, another affected resident, said he has lived on his plot since 2002. The situation remains tense.
