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.
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