By Tendai Keith Guvamombe
Just a few kilometers outside Bindura lies a fertile private property historically known for producing hundreds of tonnes of maize annually for the national grain reserves. Today, however, Nyamakura Farm is at the center of an escalating controversy, targeted by opportunistic invaders eager to reap where they did not sow.
For Gogo Naome Nyamakura, the remainder of Woodbrook Farm—measuring 757.5217 hectares and purchased alongside her late husband in 1982—represents a lifetime of hard work and devotion. But following her husband’s death in 2022, the property became vulnerable to unscrupulous encroachers whose brazen activities now cause her endless sleepless nights.
Where the family once celebrated bumper harvests of up to between 300 to 600 tonnes of maize per season, their agricultural output has been severely disrupted by individuals establishing illegal strongholds on the land.
A substantial tract leading toward the 7-kilometer stretch of Acadia Dam shoreline has been aggressively partitioned by developers capitalizing on a booming, unauthorized leisure resort.
Without legal standing or regulatory approval, these individuals created arbitrary boundaries and cut an access road directly through the Nyamakura property to the dam.
Adding insult to injury, they erected a boom gate labeled “Private Property”—effectively locking the rightful owner out of her own land.
Independent verifications conducted by this publication with the Deeds Office confirmed that the Nyamakura family holds the authentic legal title, confirming the land’s private status.
A recent visit to the farm revealed the 74-year-old widow living in distress, pleading for urgent government intervention to enforce her property rights.
”The farm, which I acquired with my husband in 1982, is being systematically exploited by strangers,” said Gogo Nyamakura. “Following my husband’s passing in 2022, people took advantage of me as a vulnerable widow.
They invaded the section leading to Acadia Dam, constructing permanent houses and chalets. Today, I am barred from accessing that part of my farm because of their boom gate. I am desperately appealing for government intervention to help me.”
Compounding her plight, mining operators have also established operations on another section of the farm without consent, erecting worker compounds on the private land.
The ongoing stress and land degradation have taken a severe toll on the elderly widow’s physical and emotional health.
”The miners simply arrived and set up camp without our approval,” she added. “They built a residential compound for their workers. All these people are taking full advantage of my age and the fact that I am a widow.”
The permanent brick-and-mortar structures rising along the banks of Acadia Dam indicate that the encroachers intend to stay.
The resort facility remains fully operational throughout the week, drawing large weekend crowds for culinary and recreational activities on contested land.
At the center of the dispute is a local facilitator identified as Munetsi, who allegedly assisted in allocating the land to resort developers. In a telephone interview, Munetsi pointed to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) as the authority behind the land allocations near the dam, though he failed to clarify the legal grounds of his involvement.
”ZINWA authorized them to build houses close to the dam,” Munetsi claimed. “At first, I was supporting the Nyamakura family, but there was nothing I could do because we were told ZINWA was the responsible authority. Only recently, when I realized my relationship with the family was damaged, did I tell the resort operators that it was illegal to operate without formal talks with the legitimate land titleholder.”