SYDNEY MUBAIWA
MAZOWE- Villagers in Katena, Chiweshe communal lands in Mazowe District are facing possible evictions from their ancestral homes to pave way for a proposed school construction by members of the Zanu PF aligned powerful Johanne Marange Apostolic Church.
Five families will be directly affected by the looming evictions while more than 200 households are going to lose both their grazing land and fields to the powerfully connected church.
In separate interviews with The Midweek Watch, the affected villagers appealed for government’s intervention to stop the impending evictions.
“Five households are facing possible evictions while more than 200 families will be left with no pastures and farmland to pave way for the construction of the school by members of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church.
“The area earmarked for school construction was reserved as our grazing land because livestock production and farming are our primary sources of living.
“We are calling on authorities to come to our rescue before our lives are destroyed,” said a villager who prayed for anonymity for fear of reprisals from powerful Zanu PF functionaries.
He said their ancestors settled on the land in question around 1900 and they have a strong financial and cultural attachment to it.
“We approached council several times and the local authority assured us that no such eviction will take place because we are constructing yet another school about 800 meters away from the site.
“Council officials came on the ground and assured us that it is impossible to build a school on the land as there is another school close to the Goredema School which is less than 800m from the intended site. We were shocked that in April the Council passed a resolution that Johanne Marange Apostolic Church should go ahead with construction. We approached the council but they didn’t respond to our enquiries. We held meetings with Marange Church but nothing was resolved. Council, DDC and State Minister are aware of our case.
“The land which is being taken is our only livelihood, our grazing land for the entire village and it is only land left for us to build out homes
“We cannot allow such a development to happen because it is not a good development to the community. Once the school is constructed, our sources of livelihoods will be destroyed,” he added.
Another villager said they also engaged the District Development Coordinator (DDC), Shepherd Edward and the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Christopher Magomo with an aim to amicably resolve the matter.
“We engaged the DDC and the resident minister over the issue because, we were shocked that council after assuring us that no such development will happen, a resolution was passed giving the church the greenlight to construct the school.
“We also tried to engage the Johanne Marange church members but nothing was resolved. Villagers are camping at the area trying to protect the land,” said another villager.
In an interview with The Midweek Watch Marange Apostolic Church secretary for education, Cathbert Rungwe said he was not aware of the land dispute.
“Yes, we were given the greenlight to construct a school in the area by the rural district council. However I am not aware about the land disputes and displacements,” he said
In an interview, a local traditional leader Taurai Marangwanda confirmed the dispute over land but however rubbished displacement claims.
“Yes the school is going to be constructed by the members of Marange Apostolic Church, however no one is going to be evicted,” he said.
Mazowe Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Liberty Mufandayedza declined to comment on the issue.
“Sorry, I don’t have a comment on this one,” he said before hanging up.
