{"id":1400,"date":"2025-12-02T07:07:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T07:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=1400"},"modified":"2025-12-02T07:07:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T07:07:57","slug":"justice-delayed-for-zimbabwe-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=1400","title":{"rendered":"Justice delayed for Zimbabwe farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by ALFRED SHILONGO<\/em>
WINDHOEK<\/strong> \u2013 LAST Friday marked the 17th anniversary of the landmark from the SADC Tribunal ruling in the case of Mike Campbell and Others v. the Government of Zimbabwe, a judgment that highlighted human rights violations and property injustices in Zimbabwe but remains unimplemented to this day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal, established as the region\u2019s court of justice and a court of last resort for citizens of member states, found in 2007 that the Zimbabwean government\u2019s seizure of white-owned farms was illegal, racially discriminatory, and violated both the SADC Treaty and international human rights law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tribunal ruled that landowners dispossessed of their property were entitled to full and fair compensation, including the value of land and improvements, to be paid by June 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, over 16 years later, no compensation has been provided to Campbell and other affected applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tribunal\u2019s suspension stems from political interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Zimbabwe failed to comply with the award, President Robert Mugabe and other officials effectively paralyzed the court by removing judges, leaving the tribunal inoperative since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tribunal could resume work if SADC member states appoint new judges, but this has yet to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Campbell\u2019s family and supporters have kept the issue in the public eye. In 2021, a symbolic \u201cLong Ride\u201d covering over 2,000 km from Campbell\u2019s Mount Carmel farm to the tribunal\u2019s seat in Windhoek was undertaken to draw attention to the lack of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ride highlighted that citizens across SADC\u2019s 16 member states, numbering over 400 million, remain unable to access the court when their rights are violated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observers note that Zimbabwe is legally bound under the SADC Treaty and international law to comply with tribunal judgments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States (US) Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) of 2018 also calls for adherence to the Campbell ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocates continue to call on the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana, to restore the tribunal and appoint judges, ensuring that the \u201chouse of justice\u201d functions once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They argue that without a functioning tribunal, the rule of law in southern Africa remains under threat, and oppression and fear continue to undermine peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventeen years on, the Campbell judgment stands as a final, binding ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, the prolonged inaction serves as a stark reminder that regional justice mechanisms remain fragile, and victims of land dispossession continue to wait for recognition, restitution, and the restoration of their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– CAJ News<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by ALFRED SHILONGOWINDHOEK \u2013 LAST Friday marked the 17th anniversary of the landmark from the SADC Tribunal ruling in the case of Mike Campbell and Others v. the Government of Zimbabwe, a judgment that highlighted human rights violations and property injustices in Zimbabwe but remains unimplemented to this day. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,170,169,2,8,11,3,41,12],"tags":[239],"class_list":["post-1400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-agribusiness","category-agricullture","category-editors-pick","category-hot-topics","category-must-read","category-news","category-politics-news","category-politics","tag-sadc-tribunal"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal-300x146.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal.jpg","large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal.jpg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"administrator","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"by ALFRED SHILONGOWINDHOEK \u2013 LAST Friday marked the 17th anniversary of the landmark from the SADC Tribunal ruling in the case of Mike Campbell and Others v. the Government of Zimbabwe, a judgment that highlighted human rights violations and property injustices in Zimbabwe but remains unimplemented to this day. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Africa","Agribusiness","Agricullture","Editor's Pick","Hot Topics","Must Read","News","Politics","Politics"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":24,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal.jpg",580,283,false],"medium":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal-300x146.jpg",300,146,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SADC-Tribunal-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"administrator","author_link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?author=2"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Africa<\/a> Agribusiness<\/a> Agricullture<\/a> Editor's Pick<\/a> Hot Topics<\/a> Must Read<\/a> News<\/a> Politics<\/a> Politics<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1402,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions\/1402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}