A traditional leader in the Midlands province, Chief Ndabazinhle Wait Gwesela has demanded that 20 families that settled around Mbembeswane Dam leave the area and go back wherever they came from.
The chief told villagers on Friday at a water awareness campaign in Kwekwe District that the families were settled illegally and risked their lives due to possible flooding. He said:
We want the illegal settlers who have occupied the area around the dam to be moved from the place.
We are not against the idea of people having farming land but we are against illegal settlers who occupy such dangerous places.
We have toured the area with the DA and he can agree with me that the place is very dangerous and people must be moved away from that area.
As a community, we need to be prepared in the event of unfortunate disasters such as flooding. It happened in Chimanimani only recently and people lost their lives.
What we are faced with here is an avoidable situation and people must be moved away from that place and go back to wherever they came from.
However, a village headman in the area told delegates that the illegal settlers occupied the land with the ruling ZANU PF party’s blessing.
The headman revealed that as it stands, their hands are tied and would only be able to act if the party issues a directive.