Protection order against village head

A MAN from Mangwe has been granted a protection order against a village head who is in the habit of assaulting and insulting him over his ethnic background.

Mr Shem Matsau, who resides in Madabe area, told a court that the village head Lambamai Ncube was in the habit of ordering him to leave the area where he has been resident for the past 20 years and “go back to Mashonaland”.

He said Ncube claimed that he had the power to grant people permission to live in the area or evict them.

“Your Worship I’m no longer living in peace because of the things which my village head is doing to me. I’ve been staying at my homestead for about 20 years and Ncube just came recently and he’s now causing problems for me.

“He told me that since I’m a Shona speaking person I should leave the area and go back to my home area in Mashonaland. He’s constantly hurling these insults at me and at times he actually assaults me,” Mr Matsau said.

He said sometime in April, Ncube threatened to axe him and pelted him with stones for cutting down some trees within the area to fix a kraal.

Mr Matsau said Ncube was abusing his powers and using his position as a village head to intimidate him.

He appealed to the court to stop Ncube from assaulting, insulting or intimidating him.

Mr Matsau also asked the court to bar Ncube from visiting his homestead or workplace and to stop him from interfering with his life.

In response, Ncube refused to stay away from Mr Matsau’s homestead saying he must have access to any homestead within his jurisdiction.

“I can’t stay away from his homestead because as a village head I have to access every section of the community which is within my area. I can visit his homestead whenever I want because of the position that I hold.

“We can even resolve this issue among ourselves but I can’t do this if I’m restricted from going into his home. If I’m denied access to a section of the community then how will I govern,” he said.

Plumtree magistrate, Mr Livard Philemon, lashed out at Ncube for abusing his powers as a traditional leader. He advised him that if a community member did not want him at his homestead then he had to respect that.

Mr Philemon granted Mr Matsau the protection order.

“The fact that you are a village head does not mean that you can bulldoze your way into people’s homesteads. You should respect them and don’t use the power that you have to intimidate people. As a traditional leader you have to lead people and not harass them,” he said. — @DubeMatutu