Chiredzi Villagers Threaten To Drag Govt To Court Over Eviction

Villagers in Chilonga, Chiredzi in Masvingo Province have threatened to drag the government to court over the planned eviction meant to allow Dendairy to embark on a lucerne grass project.

Through lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), the villagers wrote a letter a fortnight ago to Local Government minister July Moyo challenging the planned ejection. Reads the letter in part:

We have been instructed to request your office to furnish us with information in your custody and control, which our clients are entitled to in terms of Section 62 of the Constitution within 14 days of your receipt of this letter, which relates to the following: confirmation of whether or not villagers in Chilonga Communal Area will be displaced to pave way for a lucerne production project, government relocation plan for the Chilonga community and issues of compensation in case of displacements, how the government is going to engage the local community over the ancestral land (and) copies of all documents relating to the transaction between the ministry of Local Government and the Lucerne investor.

The villagers said that they were not consulted, they were not informed of where they will be relocated and how they will benefit from the project adding that the move ejects them from their ancestral lands.

They are also worried that the government will leave them stranded as was the case with victims of Tokwe-Mukorsi floods.

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