CHIREDZI WEST —A massive humanitarian and legal showdown has reached boiling point in Masvingo Province this October 2026, as between 300 and 900 families face imminent eviction from Samba Ranch (also known as Samba Range).
The affected villagers, many of whom have lived on the land for over two decades since the 2000 land reform era, are squaring off against prominent billionaire businessman Moses Chingwena.
Chingwena, the owner of Croco Motors, is moving to enforce a controversial court order to clear the land for sugarcane expansion and the installation of a multi-million-dollar mill.
The crisis escalated dramatically this month when Chiredzi District Lands Officer Shepherd Matavire summoned local village heads to deliver a grim ultimatum: *vacate the ranch immediately*.
While an official meeting at the Chiredzi District Administrator’s office was abruptly postponed—stalling the immediate deployment of eviction squads—government ministers are reportedly intervening to preside over the highly volatile displacement process.
The human cost of the corporate-communal gridlock is already visible. Villagers report that local infrastructure development has ground to a halt.
Crucially, the construction of a much-needed community health clinic in Ward 8 was blocked due to the pending ownership dispute, leaving hundreds of families without nearby medical care.
The dispute highlights a gaping structural flaw in how land was distributed during Zimbabwe’s fast-track land reform era.
On one side, the villagers claim legitimate right of occupation. They settled on Samba Ranch around 1999–2000 after it was gazetted and acquired from a white commercial farmer. To back their claim, residents hold official Certificates of Occupation issued by the Chiredzi Rural District Council as far back as 2001.
On the other side stands Chingwena’s vast agricultural ambition. While the tycoon already holds 410 hectares in the area, local leadership alleges he is utilizing a controversial court judgment to claim an additional 6,000 hectares within Samba Ranch.
The community is dug in.
Villagers have vowed to boycott any selective or closed-door meetings called by district officials, demanding that government ministers address the entire community in an open, public forum. There is widespread panic that Samba Ranch is just the first domino to fall. Community leaders warn that if these evictions succeed, displacements will likely spill over into Wards 8, 25, and 26 of Chiredzi West, potentially rendering thousands more homeless.
As state officials and legal teams scramble to chart the next move, the families of Samba Ranch spend their nights on high alert, caught between a twenty-year-old resettlement promise and the unstoppable march of corporate expansion.