THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has initiated
moves to gazette the iconic Mazowe Dam as it emerged that Zanu PF bigwigs and
senior government officials, whose farms are downstream and rely on the dam for
irrigation purposes, have raised a red-flag over the grabbing of the dam by
First Lady Grace Mugabe, the Zimbabwe Independent has established.
Sources said since the Independent broke the Mazowe Dam
grabbing story at the beginning of the month, several bigwigs have held
meetings with Zinwa officials to push for the dam to be officially gazetted as
a State dam.
Although Zinwa was controlling the dam, officials at the
authority said that it has not yet been gazetted as a State dam. Interfresh
Limited, which lost large tracts of land to Grace, inherited the dam’s permit
from Anglo America.
“The dam was built in 1918 by Anglo America and bought by
Interfresh,” said the source, adding that: “Interfresh holds a permit and is
the owner of the dam. Part of Interfresh’s land was grabbed by Grace and now
she has also grabbed the dam which happens to be in Manzou farm.”
Grace grabbed Manzou Farm in 2011 to set up a private game
reserve. Her plan has however been stalled by some villagers, who have refused
to vacate the farm where they settled in 2000 during the chaotic land reform
programme. The villagers have remained on the farm, despite their homes being
burnt, courtesy of a High Court order barring Grace from forcibly moving them.
A Zinwa official said contrary to reports by the
Mashonaland provincial affairs minister Martin Dinha that Grace holds the
Mazowe Dam permit, Interfresh had the permit, while all other users of the dam
sign agreement forms.
“The water permit is in the hands of Interfresh and they
pay US$2,06 per mega-litre (1 000 cubic metres),” said the official.
“All other users such as the First Family, A1 and A2
farmers downstream, pay between US$3,06 to US$7,06 per mega-litre.”
Zinwa sources said before a dam is gazetted, authorities
consider a lot of issues, which include value of the dam to the community, as
well as the number of people or institutions which benefit from the dam.
Mazowe dam provides water to Interfresh, Trojan and Ashanti
mines, as well as Shamva, Glendale and Bindura towns.
It also provides irrigation water to farms owned by some
senior Zanu PF and government officials who include, among many others, local
government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, Central Intelligence Organisation
deputy director general Daniel Tonde Nhepera, chief magistrate Mishrod
Guvamombe and legislator Remegio Matangira.
Sources said Zinwa officials were finding it tough to
distribute water equitably because Grace’s security personnel are now
controlling the canal pumps.
“Zinwa authorities know how much water is needed for each
farm downstream and they used to control the flow-metre but now the security
personnel are just doing it randomly,” the source said.
“Some farmers end up without enough water because those
opening and closing the canal pumps have no knowledge of how much water each
famer requires.”
Grace is expanding her vast empire in the scenic Mazowe
area by grabbing the iconic Mazowe Dam — almost a century after it was built —
and surrounding tracts of land.
The move has escalated her bitter fights with local
villagers who are now barred from using the huge dam which she has privatised.
Grace’s Mazowe empire already includes an opulent
double-storey mansion on Mapfeni Farm, which can be seen from Manzou Farm from,
where she has been evicting thousands of villagers since 2011 to establish a
game park.
There is also a dairy farm, orphanage and a school. She is
planning to build a university. Grace has also grabbed land which belonged to
the former Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed agro-producer Interfresh’s Mazowe
Citrus Estate.
The Mugabe family reportedly has more than 10 farms,
becoming part of the new land aristocracy ushered in by government’s chaotic
land reform programme which began in 2000.
Mazowe Dam, the country’s 16th largest reservoir, has a
capacity of 39,35 million cubic metres of water and was 99,9% full as of June
12, according to Zinwa.
Grace’s latest move has infuriated villagers, some of whom
earned a living through fishing and other activities around there. Zimbabwe independent
0 comments:
Post a Comment