ANTI-RIOT police in Masvingo yesterday reportedly fired warning shots to disperse rioting Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims resisting the relocation of Chingwizi Transit Camp clinic to a new site earmarked for their resettlement.
Tatenda Chitagu
The villagers, who have been camped at Chingwizi transit camp since floods ravaged Masvingo in February this year, allegedly turned violent.
They blocked vehicles carrying medical equipment and drugs from the camp saying the clinic should remain at the camp until government has compensated them for losses incurred during the floods.
The displaced villagers were demanding at least $9 million from government before they could leave the campsite and take occupation of their allocated one-hectare plots, which they described as “too small”.
The fracas happened after President Robert Mugabe, who is yet to set foot at the campsite despite declaring the flooding a national disaster, reportedly told the Zanu PF Politburo on Wednesday that the villagers would only move to their resettled plots after they were fully compensated.
Masvingo acting provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nkululeko Nduna last night could neither confirm nor deny the incident saying he was yet to get a report on the matter.
“Check with me tomorrow, I have not yet got the report,” Nduna said.
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But officials at the camp said the villagers blocked the road with logs, branches and formed a human barrier, blocking government trucks transporting the equipment from leaving the overcrowded camp.
“Following the impasse, which lasted several hours, anti-riot police had to be called in from Chiredzi and that is when they fired shots,” the official told NewsDay last night.
“At first we panicked, but then realised that they were not going to kill all of us. That is when we regrouped.”
By end of day yesterday, the impasse had not yet been broken, with the protesting villagers singing and denigrating Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Kudakwashe Bhasikiti whom they accused of stalling their compensation demands.
Early last month, Bhasikiti angered the villagers after he claimed that the money which was earmarked to compensate them had been diverted by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa to pay civil servants’ salaries.
Two months ago, the government cut food handouts to villagers who resisted the forced relocation.
However, the move did not achieve the intended results after only 400 out of more than 18 000 victims voluntarily left. The villagers yesterday said they would not allow medical equipment to be relocated as that would spawn a health time bomb.
Also recently, 10 Cabinet ministers led by Local government minister Ignatius Chombo left the camp in a huff after they were dressed down by the villagers. The villagers have resisted attempts to move them to one-hectare plots earmarked for their resettlement, demanding bigger plots and cash compensation for property lost during the floods.
