via Manzou villagers demand $180 000 compensation – NewsDay Zimbabwe April 2, 2015
HUNDREDS of villagers who were recently ordered to vacate Manzou Estate in Mazowe district to pave way for First Lady Grace Mugabe’s planned wildlife sanctuary are demanding over $180 000 compensation for loss of their homes and crops.
By Everson Mushava
Kennedy Masiye, a human rights lawyer representing the villagers, said he was in the process of drafting a letter of intention to sue government for the loss of property for his clients.
He said so far, 110 of the 195 affected villagers had submitted their claims ranging between $1 500 and $9 000 each.
“Very soon, we will deliver those letters,” Masiye said.
“We intend to sue government for compensation. We are in the process of drafting letters of intention to sue government as is required by the law. Some villagers are still coming with their claims.”
The villagers invaded Manzou Estate at the height of government’s fast-track land reform programme in 2000, but have been resisting eviction since 2009 and had their homes destroyed on several occasions.
Early this year, the High Court ordered government to allow them to stay on the land until alternative land had been identified.
However, government recently provided land for only five villagers, leaving 195 others in the cold.
According to one of the villagers, Aspinas Makufa, government was fencing Cetic 1 to 4, Spenkelen, Glenbevia and Maxdale farms, which form part of Manzou Estate to pave way to wildlife conservation at the expense of the villagers.
Makufa said the compensation claims being sought by the 110 families at the moment stood at above $180 000.
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