Save wildlife sanctuary: Mzembi sticks to his guns
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in News
THE inter-ministerial committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara to resolve the controversial Save Conservancy saga after the
conservancy was invaded by Zanu PF bigwigs last year is still to present its
findings to cabinet.
Report by Herbert Moyo
Tourism and Hospitality minister Walter Mzembi said “it is better to delay
the presentation of the findings than to rush into making a decision that
will live with us and indict us for good”.
Mzembi said the committee had already met twice in the past month and
Mutambara appreciates the need to consult widely so that the taskforce can
present a very democratic position to cabinet.
Mzembi said the invasions were counter-productive and would dent the country’s
image ahead of this year’s United Nations World Tourism Organisation general
assembly.
“What l said last year on the matter remains indelibly printed on the minds
of Zimbabweans and my position will not be changed by anybody,” Mzembi said.
“Contrary to assertions that we want to protect white men’s interests, we
are trying to come up with a model which will empower communities while
preserving wildlife for posterity. It is important that we don’t replace
whites with a bourgeois black class that has already been empowered
elsewhere.”
Save Conservancy general manager David Goosen said they met Mutambara
together with local chiefs to submit their presentation in November last
year.
Goosen said the white entrepreneurs had proposed a business model where they
could get into partnership with the local community.
“We want the conservancy to be run as a company where the local community
will have shares in a trust represented by their chiefs,” said Goosen. “We
know there is so much potential in the wildlife sector so we welcome
community participation.”
Save Conservancy is the country’s richest and largest private wildlife
sanctuary in the world. It hit the headlines last year after it was invaded
by Zanu PF bigwigs and army commanders, particularly from Masvingo province.
They parcelled it out among themselves before embarking on an orgy of
wildlife hunting, sparking local and international outrage.