SHANNISE DZOBO
MASVINGO-Newly resuscitated Bere chieftainship boundary disputes with surrounding chiefdoms never seem to be ending any time soon as another bloody dispute over ward 6 has erupted against Chief Zimuto.
Chief Zimuto is claiming that ward 6 in Masvingo Rural is under his jurisdiction while on the other hand Chief Bere is having none of that as he claims the boundaries at the District Development Coordinator’s office are very clear as to where the area falls under.
Chief has threatened violence over the boundary dispute if Chief Zimuto fails to respect the boundaries at DDC’s office.
The matter came to a head two weeks ago when Chief Zimuto called a meeting at Rufaro Centre in ward 6 where he allegedly villagers that they should not get instructions from Chief Bere as they are under his area and labelled the latter an invader.
Chief Zimuto told The Midweek Watch in a telephone interview that Ward 6 is under his jurisdiction and alleged that the DDC, Roy Hove is favoring Chief Bere in the dispute.
“I suspect the DDC is favoring Chief Bere because he is very confident that the resettlement area in Rufaro is under his jurisdiction yet I have been presiding over that land for years now and Bere should know that Chieftainship land is not determined by administrative wards but by boundaries that were demarcated by our forefathers long back,” said Chief Zimuto.
He went on to say that Chief Bere should stop calling meetings in his area because he is causing confusion.
Chief Bere’s spokesperson Adnos Chikomo told The Midweek Watch that they are not happy with what Chief Zimuto is doing by telling the community members in Rufaro to stop following their authority.
“Chief Bere is not happy at all by the way Chief Zimuto is handling this boundary issue, if he is not aware of the boundaries he should approach the DDC’s office and get full information there rather than telling the community not to engage with the authority of the area,” said Chikomo.
He went on to say that Chief Zimuto confirmed that he is aware of Chief Bere’s chieftainship that was resuscitated several years ago but was not conversant with the boundaries hence he has not removed his headman in the disputed area.
Chikomo added that if Chief Zimuto does not take heed of the advise there will be problems (kana mukaramba muchiita nharo panokuvadzanwa),” said Chikomo.
Efforts to get a comment from Hove were fruitless as he kept on saying he was too busy and out of office.
