Chombo loses bid to evict ex-wife from Raffingora farm as judge throws out case

Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo lost his bid to evict his former wife Ms Marian Mhloyi from Allan Grange Farm in Raffingora before her appeal on their divorce settlement after High Court Judge Justice Lavender Makoni, threw out his sapplication saying it lacked merit. The minister’s application was based on a judgment by High Court judge Justice David Mangota that declared that the farm, allocated to Chombo under the land reform programme, should not be part of the matrimonial assets to be shared in a divorce.

Ms Mhloyi’s lawyers, Mtetwa and Nyambirai appealed to the Supreme Court against Justice Mangota’s judgment on the farm. While the appeal was pending, Minister Chombo, separately sought the enforcement of Justice Mangota’s judgment arguing that the appeal had gone for two years without being heard.

However, Justice Lavender Makoni last week threw out Minister Chombo’s application saying the ex-wife was not responsible for the delay in the hearing of the appeal. He also said that the delay was occasioned by the disappearance of the divorce file, which was in the hands of court officials.