High Court throws out Musarara’s urgent bid to stop grain import levies

High Court throws out Musarara’s urgent bid to stop grain import levies

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The High Court has dismissed an urgent application filed by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ), led by Tafadzwa Musarara, which sought to halt Government’s grain import levy framework introduced through Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025.

In a ruling issued under case number HCH435/26, Justice Lucy Mungwari, sitting in the High Court Commercial Division in Harare, struck the matter off the urgent roll after finding it was “not urgent”. The decision means the levy system remains in force while any further legal steps are pursued through the ordinary court process.

The application challenged the levy framework which Government says is meant to protect local farmers, fund irrigation infrastructure and reduce reliance on imported grain. Respondents cited in the case included the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), the Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Finance, Justice, and Industry and Commerce, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), ZimStat and the Attorney General.

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Treasury has publicly backed the levy arrangements. In a letter dated 30 April 2026, Finance Secretary George Guvamatanga reaffirmed support for the levies under revised grain marketing arrangements for the 2025/26 summer season, arguing that price disparities between imported and locally produced grain were affecting producer viability, import substitution efforts and macro-economic stability.

Under the framework, Government designated AMA as the collecting agent for the levies, with proceeds earmarked for farmer payments through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and irrigation development programmes.

Authorities have said around US$5.7 million has already been raised through the levy mechanism, with some of the funds being directed towards irrigation projects.

The levy policy has drawn support from farmer unions and indigenous millers. Legal and economic experts have also argued that the framework is supported by the AMA Act, which provides for “the imposition and collection of levies on producers, buyers and processors of agricultural products.”

In recent remarks on industrialisation and trade, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was seeking to move up global value chains through value addition, stating the country should not remain a supplier of raw materials but become “a competitive producer of value-added goods”.

Separately, Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda warned that Zimbabwe’s growing import bill posed a threat to industrial growth and sovereignty. He said imports had risen from US$4.5 billion in 2019 to a projected US$10 billion in 2026.

The Indigenous Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (IGMAZ) welcomed the High Court decision, describing it as supportive of Zimbabwe’s agrarian transformation agenda, food security goals and local producers, and said SI 87 of 2025 remained important for protecting indigenous farmers, financing irrigation infrastructure and reducing dependence on imports.

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