Hundreds stranded in Mwenezi after dam evictions

By Tinotenda Mutsvanga

MWENEZI –Leaning against her makeshift  pole and dagga hut, Lynnet Maraire  breastfeeds her six- month- old baby boy, pondering what life will offer next as a light drizzle showered and sprayed a cool breeze which forced her to retreat  into the dimly lit thatched dwelling.

“It’s about to rain and you may come inside so that we can talk,”She said.

“I just hope that it will not rain much because the roof is not well thatched. My husband had to put a temporary structure since the money that we got from the government is not enough for us to purchase enough building material,” she said as the wind whistled into the muddy house.

Lynnet Maraire’s story (not her real name) is one of many “untold tales” of about 400 (four hundred) families that were evicted from their ancestral homes in Chivi south under Chief Gororo and Chief Zifunzi .

The families are currently staying at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi  district – XXX kms south of the provincial capital Masvingo  — were they were settled by the government to pave way for the construction of the Tokwe Mukosi dam.

Whilst the government has been portraying as if a smooth relocation was taking place, the situation on the ground  at the farm  is quite “pathetic and inhuman” as the villagers have no access to simple basics of life at their disposal such as schools and clinics.

Moreover the villagers have been relocated to a place that is more than 100km away from the dam  hence they will not benefit anything from the dam such as irrigation and fishing.

Basic human facilities that include schools and clinics are some 15km away in Triangle limited sub farms and the “poorly planned” relocations has affected schooling for many children who were writing their examinations as parents had to seek alternative accommodation.

A serious threat of hunger is looming as the villagers rely on subsistence farming and they haven’t prepared the 4 hectare pieces of land that they were allocated by the government as the rain season has arrived.

The area is not suitable for farming since it is dry and arid and accessing water is a big challenge  as the few boreholes available do not pump adequate water and their livestock have to rely on borehole water.

According to the villagers who were relocated during the second phase they felt that the government under-compensated them for their household properties compared to those who benefited from the first phase.

Moreover some families had to leave behind their graveyards as they were not given money to exhume the remains of their relatives.

Amai Caroline Madyangove (44) said that she was given $7000 only regardless that one of her three houses was very big and well constructed.

“I feel robbed since the evaluators just conducted an outside evaluation without bothering to get inside and check the number of rooms and roofing used. Imagine someone with such developments having to stay in a pole and dagga house. This wasn’t fair at all”.

“I have come here to see my piece of land and what worries me is that there are no schools and clinics nearby. It means that we have to travel to Triangle Limited’s estates to access the facilities,” she said.

Another villager who spoke on condition of anonymity said that he was very disappointed of leaving behind his ancestral home as well as the graves of his relatives.

“I’m very disappointed with how I was treated compared to other families. I was given very little money considering the investment that I had made at my homestead. Imagine getting $4000 and leaving behind graves for my relatives. This is very unfair because some had the graves exhumed and reburied at their new plots,” he said.

The villagers bemoaned the double standards in compensation saying that the villagers who were relocated during the first phase benefited as a result of the money that was made available by an Italian company that is involved in the project.

The villagers said that the company paid” good money” to the villagers to vacate since it wanted its job done in time.

Tasara Wamambo the Director of TokweMukosi People Rehabilitation and Resettlement Trust a non-governmental organization that advocates for the rights of the affected villagers said that the government should have first developed infrastructure at  the farm and then conduct the relocations.

“What is quite saddening is that the government started constructing the dam whilst the villagers were still on their homesteads thus exposing them to dust and risks of injuries from blasting operations that were taking place.

“Whilst I appreciate the efforts that Minister Chombo made in remedying the situation last time when this was brought to his attention, there hasn’t been much follow up thereafter.

Also the farm where the villagers are being relocated to is a dry arid area and there is no infrastructure like schools and clinics. The villagers are clearing up their own fields using traditional tools such as axes”, he said.

Wamambo added that TMPRRT (lets spell it out again) was in the process of mobilizing resources such as tents to provide to all families living in traditional pole and dagga house and was worried with the rains that were already falling.

’The situation on the ground is very dire since there are no toilets and water readily available thus posing a risk of disease outbreaks. We are engaging well-wishers who can provide tents and other basics to assist the villagers and the area were the villagers are being relocated to is some 100 km away and the rains are now falling. What it means they will not benefit from the dam and these include irrigation and fishing,” he said.

Minister of Local Government,  Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo said;

“What I can say is the relocation exercise went very well and I don’t understand what you are talking about. After all the dam is of national benefit,” he said.

The Tokwe Mukosi Dam  was drafted  in the 1920s by the then colonial government and construction started in the 1990s. However the project was temporarily  halted as a result of hyperinflation that hit the economy between 2000 and 2008 and only to resume operation soon after the coming in of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2009.