Disagreement over Save Conservancy exposes more ZANU PF in-fighting
By Alex Bell
30 August 2012
The intensifying fight for control of the Save Valley Conservancy has
exposed even more rifts within ZANU PF, with top party officials clashing
over the Conservancy’s future.
The Conservancy has become the latest target of the ZANU PF led land grab
campaign, despite warnings about the destructive consequences such a
campaign will have on the wildlife and tourism sectors. Earlier this year a
parliamentary committee said in a damning report that the forced seizure of
Save by top political and military figures with “no interest (or) experience
in wildlife conservation” had resulted in massive destruction there.
“Save Valley conservancy has ceased to exist in its original form: there is
extensive habitat destruction, large scale fence destruction and rampant
poaching of animals, especially the rhino, whose numbers were said to be
fast dwindling,” the report said.
A group of ZANU PF officials, called the ‘Masvingo Initiative’, were
identified as the key players behind this destruction. This includes Higher
Education Minister Stan Mudenge, Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke and war
vet Shuvai Mahofa who have all been given 25 year land leases in the
Conservancy. They have also recently become the recipients of hunting
licences, handed over by National Parks chief Vitalis Chadenga in the name
of ‘indigenisation’.
The Masvingo gang has also instilled some of its officials as the new
Conservancy leaders, after invading the area and taking over a management
meeting last week.
The legitimate Conservancy chiefs have called the handover of the new
hunting licenses a ‘criminal act’ that has nothing to do with genuine
indigenisation efforts. Conservationists have also warned that the situation
will have a devastating effect on the wildlife and hunting sector, with no
commitments to the necessary controls for sustainable and ethical hunting
practices.
The takeover of Save is apart of what ZANU PF is insisting is a government
approved ‘wildlife based land reform’ policy. But the fight has now seen
ZANU PF officials face off, with Environment and Natural Resources Minister
Francis Nhema on one side and Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister
Walter Mzembi on the other.
Nhema has said the landowners in Save need to ‘cooperate’ with the new
beneficiaries, insisting the ‘reform’ of conservancies will go ahead. Mzembi
meanwhile has expressed concern and opposed the scheme, arguing it threatens
the successful hosting of next year’s United Nations World Tourism
Organisation General Assembly in Victoria Falls. Mzembi has also said the
targeting of the conservancy for ‘reform’ was against Zimbabwean laws.
This has led to the Tourism Minister being labelled a ‘sell-out’ by ZANU PF
members, who have accused Mzembi of deciding “to side with the whites to
reverse the land reform programme.”
Political analyst Professor John Makumbe told SW Radio Africa that ZANU PF’s
bickering over Zimbabwe’s assets is a sign of the “fragile state ZANU PF is
in.” He said that the rush to grab as much as possible, regardless of the
damage being done, is linked to this.
“ZANU PF is preparing for the worst by grabbing what they can and attempting
to legitimise these acquisitions before an election. This is part and parcel
of the widespread asset stripping going on in Zimbabwe as elections are
looming,” Makumbe said.
Minister Mzembi has now been urged to engage with his government partners
and revoke the new hunting licenses. This is the recommendation of the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, whose board has said that “government should
remove illegal settlers encroaching onto the conservancies.”
“The communities should be empowered through the Community Share Ownership
Scheme and other empowerment benefits,” a memorandum from the Tourism
Authority board said.
SW Radio Africa has tried to get comment from Minister Mzembi but his phone
went unanswered on Thursday.