Police Arrest Chisumbanje Villagers in Rautenbach Land Row
Violet Gonda
09.01.2013
Some villagers from Chisumbanje, Manicaland Province, are in police custody
after they attempted to re-claim land that they say was forcibly taken by
the multi-million dollar Chisumbanje Ethanol Plant.
The arrests occurred despite a cabinet taskforce ruling that the villagers
should be allowed to work on the disputed land pending a final resolution of
the ongoing dispute.
Controversial businessman Billy Rautenbach owns Macdon Investments, the
company that runs the plant.
Scores of displaced villagers, mostly cotton and maize farmers, have been
involved in a bitter land dispute with the controversial multimillionaire,
who is said to have close ties to Zanu PF. The tensions increased since the
beginning of the rainy season last month, when farmers are traditionally in
their fields.
Rautenbach is accused of invading their land illegally after an initial
agreement allowed him to use 5,100 hectares of nearby land.
The villagers are being detained at Chisumbanje Police Station, facing
charges of invading private property.
Meke Makuyana, the MDC-T legislator for Chipinge South, told VOA’s Studio 7
that eight villagers are currently in police custody and more arrests are
expected.
Studio 7 phoned Macdom spokesperson Lillian Muungane, who did not answer her
mobile phone.
MDC-T Manicaland Province spokesman Pishai Muchauraya said the villagers
were arrested despite a special cabinet taskforce, chaired by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara, revolved last month that villagers should be
allowed to till the land pending a final resolution of the dispute.