Govt moves game onto Grace evictions farm

via Govt moves game onto Grace evictions farm New Zimbabwe 13/01/2015

HARDLY two days after the High Court barred the eviction of families from the Manzou farm in Mazowe, government has announced that it has taken control of the property and will soon be moving wild animals there from other sanctuaries.

A ZBC report which made no mention of the Monday ruling said “Manzou farm in Mazowe, formerly known as Arnold farm, will soon be habitat to the big five and other wildlife”.

The report said officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Authority, National Museums and Monuments, and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) on Tuesday found that the farm “was seriously under threat from settlers who were undertaking illegal gold panning, causing serious land degradation”.

There was outrage last week after police swooped on the farm, destroying houses and trying to evict around 200 families from the property, which is near First Lady Grace Mugabe’s dairy and orphanage in the central Mazowe district.

Government moved quickly to deny reports that Grace was behind the evictions saying the farm is merely being returned to its status as a national heritage site.

But Grace is reported to have told a rally in Mazowe last year that she wanted to take over a nearby conservancy and use it to generate income for her orphanage.

On Monday the High Court barred police from evicting villagers from the park.

In an interview with Newzimbabwe.com on Tuesday, minister of State for Mashonaland Central provincial affairs Martin Dinha warned resisting families at Manzou against placing much hope on the court order.

Dinha said while the government would comply with the ruling, that did not mean the families will not be evicted.

“We will comply with the court ruling as a law abiding nation. We are happy with the ruling since this is a provisional order,” said Dinha.

“We will go back to the courts to argue our case. We have always said the land is not for human settlement but it is earmarked for a game reserve and to host a monument for our liberation war icon-Ambuya Nehanda.

“We have told the courts and they have understood. They said give them alternative land which we have done that. We have set aside three settlements for the relocation and others complied. It is only a few who have refused,” he said.