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Cde Omar

Walter Mswazie Southern Correspondent
Government efforts to resettle Tokwe Mukosi flood victims at Chingwizi in Mwenezi are in jeopardy, with villagers resisting allocation of land at different farms identified for the programme. There are plans to relocate the families to some farms in Mwenezi to pave way for construction of a multi-million dollar ethanol plant by Mr Billy Rautenbach, a private investor.

The farms include Lundi Farm, Magudu Ranch, Mtilikwi Farm, Umfula Farm, Chiumburu Farm and Masangula Ranch.

The farms are said to have rich soils suitable for agriculture.

In interviews with The Herald, the affected villagers said they had since established permanent homes at Chingwizi and were not interested in relocating.

Village head Mr Taruona Musingakuri said the families deserved time to be settled.

“While moving to more fertile land can be ideal for our survival, we are being stressed by the unending relocations,” he said.

“This is not good for our families as we have established schools, clinics and we are already working towards constructing other infrastructure for social amenities.”

Mr Musingakuri said the villagers wanted to benefit from irrigation promised when they were moved from Tokwe Mukosi Dam in Chivi District.

“We were told the Tokwe Mukosi Dam water will be used for irrigation purposes, so we also want to benefit from it,” he said.

Mr Sarai Chingume from Dzingai Village, urged Government to extend the pieces of land the villagers were occupying instead of relocation.

“We are appealing to Government to let the villagers lead normal lives instead of continually relocating them,” he said.

Mwenezi East legislator Cde Joosbi Omar said Government wanted to improve the lives of the villagers by settling them on fertile soils.

“The farms identified by Government are fertile enough that they will benefit a lot,” he said.

“I appreciate their concern, but the move to relocate them is a noble idea.

“I also understand the investor has offered to assist them in the relocation, as well as drilling boreholes where they are going.”

About 3 000 families were evacuated from Tokwe Mukosi Dam’s flood basin at the height of raging floods in 2014.

The floods destroyed homes, livestock and crops worth millions of dollars.

Government resettled the affected families at Chingwizi, where each family was allocated one hectare.