Looters defy Mugabe
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 28 September 2012 08:53
Clemence Manyukwe, Political Editor
SENSING the end could be nigh before sanity prevails at Save Valley
Conservancy in Masvingo Province, ZANU-PF bigwigs have heightened poaching
activities at the animal sanctuary in disregard of a directive by President
Robert Mugabe to cease illegal activities there pending a decision on the
saga by the party’s supreme decision-making body in between congresses — the
Politburo.
The illegal hunting frenzy is threatening to wipe out game in the
conservancy, hitherto of interest only to safari operators until controversy
set in after it was allocated to ZANU-PF heavyweights from the politically
restive province, some of who have no clue about hunting.
The primitive accumulation of wealth through rampant poaching ahead of a
decision on the matter by ZANU-PF’s Soviet-style Politburo has alarmed
conservationists who fear that the animal population at Save Valley could
decline rapidly if nothing is done to restore order.
Villagers around the conservancy were left shell-shocked recently after a
senior ZANU-PF official pledged two buffalo bulls as relish to a
constituency of a political friend in the province on the day reports from
South Africa indicated that a buffalo had been auctioned for a whooping 26
million rands.
The incident alarmed the powers-that-be who now fear that uncontrolled
hunting in the area could compound the country’s foreign currency woes.
Hunting and safari has been a significant contributor to Zimbabwe’s foreign
currency earnings.
The issuance of hunting leases to ZANU-PF members at the game refuge has
opened a new front for disharmony in President Mugabe’s party, forcing the
incumbent to direct Environment Minister Francis Nhema to revisit his
decision, compelling existing ranchers to partner the so-called “Masvingo
Group”.
Resultantly, the party’s politburo appointed a four-member panel consisting
Nhema; Tourism and Hospitality Minister, Walter Mzembi; the party’s
secretary for lands, Ignatius Chombo as well as Land Reform and Resettlement
Minister, Herbert Murerwa to recommend the course of action to take.
The committee, which is still to meet as some of its members are out of the
country on business, was tasked to look into the possibility of turning the
conservancy into a national park, among other available options, effectively
reversing the issuance of the leases.
Those who were handed leases at Save Valley include war veterans leader,
Joseph Chinotimba; Major General Gibson Mashin-gaidze; Major General
Engelbert Rugeje; Masvingo Governor and Resident Minister Titus Maluleke;
ZANU-PF Masvingo provincial chairperson Lovemore Matuke; Higher Education
Minister Stan Mudenge; Health Deputy Minister Douglas Mombeshora; ZANU-PF
central committee member Enock Porusingazi and Members of Parliament Ailess
Baloyi, Abraham Sithole, Samson Mukanduri and Noel Mandebvu.
Former lawmaker, Shuvai Mahofa was also handed a conservancy in the area.
Ever since the allocation of the hunting quotas was announced last month,
fierce resistance against the new order has emerged from the conservators,
Mzembi, Chiredzi chiefs and members of the Parliamentary Committee on
Natural Resources.
On Tuesday, Chino-timba, confirmed there was poaching at Save, but blamed it
on white ranchers, adding that even though he has not yet set his foot at
the animal sanctuary since the Politburo meeting, it was worth noting that
any decision by ZANU-PF was not the end in itself as whatever the party
decides still needed to be endorsed by Cabinet to have any effect.
Chinotimba, who spearheaded the chaotic land seizures in 2000, said the new
beneficiaries still have a right to continue hunting animals as they have
legally binding leases issued by the Environment Minister.To my knowledge
those whites are the ones who are poaching, despite the fact that they don’t
have quotas. If you want to know who is poaching ask Karikoga Kaseke (the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive officer), I took him there and he
saw for himself,” he said.
“The Politburo decision is not the end of the story. The government has its
own resolution, which gave us quotas through the Ministry of Environment,
which is headed by Nhema. We have the right to be hunting.”
Chinotimba said his partners at Save have refused to meet him and so far he
has only managed to hold meetings with the managers.
Mzembi also confirmed receiving reports about rampant poaching activities at
Save Valley Conservancy.
In an earlier interview with The Financial Gazette, Mzembi said while it
takes one gunshot to eliminate an animal for individual benefit, the same
can pose danger for hundreds of photographic shots, whose income can sustain
a community for a lengthy period.
He said the continued lawlessness at the animal haven has a deeper meaning
politically, saying the Save saga was symbolic of the greatest test to
ideological correctness and aptitude by those who should be discharging the
values that ZANU-PF stood for at independence in 1980.
“That behaviour smacks of a psychology-driven by the ‘last harvest’
mentality before a drought. Political, in this sense: It is very dangerous
for us who still want to serve the party for the next 30 years. That’s what
makes our fight and defence of old ZANU-PF values now more generational than
ever. And on this even if I remain in the majority of one, it’s the
principles and values that I am prepared to defend. People first!” said
Mzembi.
This week, Nhema said he could not comment on poaching reports because if
they were any they should have been dealt with administratively by the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife.
Parks spokesperson, Caroline Washaya, could not respond immediately to a
request for statistics on poaching at the animal sanctuary.
Former ZANU-PF Manicaland provincial chairperson and leader of Save Valley
Conservancy, Basil Nyabadza, who attempted to use his political clout to
have the 25-year leases reversed, said he would be getting statistics on
poaching activities in the area in due course.
“The people doing this are taking the law into their own hands. The brand
Zimbabwe must not suffer because of the pursuit of selfish gains. Those that
do not respect the will of our leadership must bear the consequences,” said
Nyabadza.
The forced imposition of partners on Save Valley, some of whom have no
knowledge of the safari industry also exposes the dangers faced as a result
of the white farmers’ failure to share resources in their possession with
disadvantaged groups, leaving the door open to opportunists.
Prior to the year 2000 when the land reforms started, most white farmers
clung to their properties when the majority of people were landless only to
suffer from a process they had no input or control over, resulting in
disastrous consequences not only to them, but to the entire country.