Beatific Gumbwanda
Chiredzi South villagers on
Wednesday raised placards in the presence of vice president Constantino
Chiwenga to protest a lucerne grass farming project which is bound to displace
over 1 000 families from their ancestral land.
Chiwenga visited the Chilonga communal
lands with ministers Perence Shiri (Agriculture), Fortune Chasi (Energy), Ezra
Chadzamira (State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs), July Moyo (Local
Government), John Mangwiro (Health deputy) and Clemence Chiduwa (Finance
deputy).
However, after Chiwenga’s
address, some villagers peacefully protested by raising placards
inscribed with such messages as ‘consult us on lucerne’ and ‘takaramba
investor’.
Members of Chiwenga’s security team
quickly moved to reign in the protesters so that the vice president could not
notice what was happening.
Dendairy, a private milk
producer, wants more than 10 000 hectares of arable land for the grass farming
project in the area which lies south of Runde River in Chiredzi East and South
constituencies.
In his 10-minute address, Chiwenga
promised to resuscitate Chilonga Irrigation Scheme and vowed to push through
the grass project which he said was important for the future.
“We need to create a better
future for our grandchildren as we are not going to live forever. I heard Chilonga
Irrigation Scheme last functioned in 2016, so we suggested it should be
operational by August. We need to open up a huge piece of land to an investor
who is coming but that will be done in consultation with our community leaders.
Without elaborating, he warned
that rural people should expect a new form of societal organisation
post-pandemic, arguing that the current arrangement was not sustainable.
“We need to work together
now. We need you to work together with the team we are going to send back (from
Harare) in order to speed up the process. Because of the coronavirus pandemic,
we will never get back to our traditional arrangement of living. We are going
to start a new living arrangement. Are we together?” said Chiwenga.
Villagers are resisting government
plans to remove them, fearing a repeat of the fate thousands of villagers who dumped
in the semi-arid Chingwizi area of Mwenezi East with no basic amenities during construction
of Tungwi-Mukosi Dam.
A few years ago, hundreds of
families were displaced to pave way for bio-energy company Green Fuel to grow
sugarcane and set-up an ethanol plant in the Chisumbanje area of the
neighbouring Chipinge district.
