MASVINGO — About 300 Zanu PF supporters who had invaded a farm near Masvingo town were last Friday left homeless after their makeshift houses were allegedly demolished by the police while scores others who resisted eviction were arrested.

Tatenda Chitagu

The invaders had moved onto Hungoidza Farm, about 45 kilometres along Masvingo-Mutare Road, after accusing fellow black farmers at the farm of under-utilising the land and being fronts for whites.

NewsDay visited the farm yesterday and found many families that had been evicted from the farm camped on the periphery of the property, where they are living in the open.

The families, most of whose children no longer go to school, however, vowed to stay put, saying they had nowhere else to go. They claimed to have voted for Zanu PF and could, therefore, not be treated in such a manner especially soon after the party’s resounding July 31 election victory.

“Even if they (police) burn our homes, we are not going anywhere. They even burnt all my belongings when I was away. It is better to be shot dead because it makes no difference. I have no option, I came here because I had no land to till,” said Prisca Chikomo, a widow who had relocated from Zaka under Chief Nyakunhuwa.

Some of the invaders said they had been on the farm since the beginning of the year.

Chikomo, who had yesterday set up a temporary shelter with fellow evictees, said they had been sleeping in the open since last Friday.

“We are exposed to the ravages of the weather. We are getting water for drinking from the river, while we use the bush to relieve ourselves. My kid has stopped going to school because I am afraid he will come back and find me displaced or arrested. Our livestock has strayed because of these disturbances,” Chikomo lamented, struggling to hold back tears.

Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Peter Zhanero professed ignorance over the matter, saying he was yet to get the details.

“I have no comment at the moment. I am still to get the details and honestly I cannot comment over something which I am not privy to,” Zhanero said yesterday.

However, another victim, Kuitei Jerera, said armed police demolished their structures while they watched helplessly.

“I do not know whether we are still in Zimbabwe or not. They (police) came with guns and ordered us out and threw out our belongings. I am now old and I cannot go back to the hilly and rocky area of Bikita where I came from,” she said.

Masvingo provincial administrator Felix Chikovo, who is also the provincial lands committee chairman, recently said government would conduct a land audit to determine whether beneficiaries of the land reform were utilising the farms.

Chikovo said the farms would also be sub-divided to accommodate about 5 000 people who were on the land waiting list amid concerns that the province had run out of land for resettlement.