THOUSANDS of Zanu PF supporters were left stranded, and are now sleeping in the open, after they were evicted from Crest Breeders Farm in Harare South last Friday.
Caught up in the eviction emanating from a legal battle
between Crest Breeders International and Langford Estates Private Limited, were
former Crest Breeders employees who joined the poultry producer four decades
ago.
When NewsDay visited the area, some of the evictees were
still stranded and others had secured lodgings at nearby houses in Ushewokunze
Phase Four. The lodgings cost US$20 per room.
The evictees claimed that the eviction was unfair since
they only received notices on July 26.
“We were not fairly evicted because we were given short
notice. We were told to leave in the morning and we thought they were
joking. They came and removed us. No one was harmed but our property was
destroyed,” said Locadia Nyambo, a married woman living with two children.
“We don’t have anywhere to go. We now live at my friend’s house,
but there is still no structure there,” she said, adding that some senior
Zanu-PF officials in the area visited them on Friday morning promising to
assist them.
Another evictee Cardonia Zambezi, who joined Crest Breeders
in 1996 said: “We slept outside. We have just found places to go and stay
temporarily just to move away from this place because we don’t know what will
happen. The owners of the houses want US$20 for a person to secure a room. It’s
very difficult because I earn around US$1,50 everyday from sorting tobacco at
Boka Auction Floors. My kids at Crest Breeders Primary School are not under the
Basic Education Assistance Module.”
Zambezi said she was surprised when they were evicted
because Zanu PF party leaders had approached their MP, Tongai Mnangagwa in
efforts to stop the evictions.
“We listened to an audio where Zanu PF Harare provincial
chairperson Goodwill Masimirembwa said we were not supposed to be evicted.
Lorries came with the messenger of court and anti-riot police. The group that
came was led by a security officer who I only know as Munetsi.”
Mike Kalonda alleged that Langform Estate wants to turn the
whole farm into residential stands, which will cost US$25 000.
Efforts to get a comment from Langform Estate were
fruitless. Newsday
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