The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has held a series of meetings with Victoria Falls-based conservation activist Benjamin Larry Norton after he filed a High Court application challenging commercial developments near the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site, Norton said this week.
Fulton Mangwanya, a former director-general (DG) of both the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) and the CIO, this week said he never instructed intelligence officers to interview Norton during his tenure at the President’s Department.
However, Norton said CIO officers visited him several times in 2025 seeking information about his opposition to projects linked to Adage Success and Scanner Investments.
The legal challenge, filed in 2022, seeks to block commercial developments in protected zones surrounding Victoria Falls, which was granted World Heritage Site status by Unesco in 1989. Norton argues that the projects threaten the ecological integrity and visual appeal of the landmark.
Judgment in the three-year court dispute is still pending.
At the time the application was filed, Zimparks — then headed by Mangwanya — was cited as one of the respondents. Mangwanya was later appointed DG of the CIO in 2025.
Norton said CIO officers arrived at his residence unannounced and requested meetings with him.
“I have had four separate visits from members of the President’s Office,” Norton said.
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“During the first visit, three local officers visited me. During the second meeting, an officer arrived unannounced to try to get me to report to the President's Office HQ in Victoria Falls to be seen by senior officers.
“On the same day, I was visited by two high-ranking officers. The fourth meeting involved a visit by a local officer. Officers were, at all times, cordial and professional.”
He added: “The feeling one has when called by any officer of the President’s Office is obviously one of dread, concern, and disquiet, no matter how polite they may be.”
Norton said the officers told him they wanted to better understand the legal dispute surrounding developments at the heritage site.
“In early 2025, I received a phone call from a local officer from the President’s Office requesting me to attend a meeting at their Victoria Falls office. I asked what I was being charged with or investigated for,” he said.
“I was told it was a courtesy call to find out about the issues I was fighting at the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site. I said if it was a courtesy call, I would not be attending their offices, but that they could visit me at my home.”
He said three officers later visited his residence seeking information about the legal challenge against the construction of Baines Restaurant and the commercialisation of Cataract Island.
“I explained the background and the issues at length, and that much of the information was already in open letters that I had written and shared in the public domain,” Norton said.
“I explained that, in my opinion, and that of the applicants, the foremost heritage site in our country was at risk from legally challenged precedents that could lead to an onslaught of commercialisation and development if they got away with it.”
According to Norton, one of the officers requested that future open letters be submitted to them for review before publication.
When asked who may have directed the CIO officers to meet him, Norton said he did not know.
“This is the great mystery. I have asked myself the same question many times,” he said.
Responding to questions from the Zimbabwe Independent this week, Mangwanya said: “I can confirm the High Court application was filed while I was DG Zimparks and it’s a pending court case.
“While I was DG President’s Department (PD), I don’t remember tasking any of my officers to interview Norton.
“As such, it will be difficult for me to know the agenda of the alleged meeting or interview by PD officers at Mr Norton’s house in Victoria Falls.”
