PYD engage parliament over villagers and Save Valley conservancy conflict in Chipinge

A conflict is ensuing between communities along Save River in Chipinge and Save Valley Conservancy over stray animals that continue to wreck havoc, killing villagers’ livestock and destroying crops.

This has effectively resulted in a deadlock between community and conservancy owners with counter accusations stalling engagement processes.

Villagers accuse the conservancy owners of negligence while the conservators maintain that surrounding areas have been vandalizing security fencing resulting in wildlife animals skipping the conservancy into communities. 

Villagers reported that over 450 livestock have been killed by lions to date with an estimated crop value of $200 000 (maize, beans, banana plantations and vegetables) being destroyed by elephants.

Unconfirmed reports also claim that three villagers were killed by lions and buffaloes from the conservancy.

Recently, a Mbaimbai family in BirchenoughBridge lost five cattle in one night with many other families in Manesa, Maunganidze, Maronga and Chibuwe having suffered the same fate.

According to villagers in the affected areas, lions come during the night to kill cattle causing great fear and panic among villagers. 

The manner in which lions attack is very scaring since most villagers will be asleep therefore very difficult to protect themselves against these wild cats. 

The lions have also been seen by school children in areas like Goko, Chipinda and Charuma leading to some parents having to accompany their children or totally withdrawing them from school for security concerns.

Councilor Edwin Mabika of ward 33 in Buhera South expressed worry that government efforts were missing in response to the distressed calls by villagers and this was a real concern.

Councilor Charles Mugidho of ward 20 in Musikavanhu constituency concurred with Mabika saying there was need for local stakeholders to be organized in their demand for a solution through government intervention.

“We challenge the Platform for Youth Development to facilitate a stakeholder approach to this wildlife and human conflict so that it is resolved at the level of the parliament of Zimbabwe. We have suffered enough with villagers losing their livestock and crops daily,” noted councilor Edwin Mabika.

This appeal by councilor Mabika has necessitated the intervention by Platform for Youth Development to engage parliament.

Platform for Youth Development has since written to the parliamentary committee on Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality to seek their intervention.

In its letter to parliament, PYD requested for a dialogue platform to receive more evidence to enable appropriate intervention on the matter that has continued to cause sleepless nights to the people of Chipinge west and Musikavanhu constituencies. 

Another villager ,Catherine Vhutuza of Chibuwe expressed disgust that elephants were a daily menace in the Masimbe,Chisavanye and Chibuwe areas making it difficult for people to harvest their beans and crops an occurrence that has been taking place unhindered over a couple of years.

PYD  is hopeful that engaging with parliament would be useful, having taken a similar approach to resolve a pending boundary conflict between Green fuel and the villagers of Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa communities in Chipinge South.

“Engaging parliament is a positive move as this has been pushed more from the affected communities. We are taking a representative role that will involve all stakeholders .From our experience working with local communities,PYD is convinced this is a surest way to finding a lasting solution,” the organization’s Director, Claris Madhuku said.

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Chisumbanje villagers cry foul over the impounding of cattle by Green fuel

Chisumbanje villagers cry foul over the impounding of cattle by Green fuel

The kraal where cattle are kept cannot feed the cattle beyond a day

The boundary dispute between villagers in Chisumbanje and Green fuel has once again come on the spot light. Villagers are crying foul that their cattle are being impounded for trespassing despite the fact that there is no boundary clarification since the land dispute started in 2009.The absence of formal platforms for dialogue has also further divided stakeholders on whether to continue with failed engagement or start confrontations with Green fuel.Chisumbanje police station is not helping matters as villagers allege that local police and Green fuel security guards are the biggest beneficiaries of the vicious cycle of sour relations experienced between the investor and villagers.

Starting early September 2015, Green fuel has sponsored a programme that impounds stray cattle to stop them from trespassing into the sugarcane fields. Cattle seen within 150 m from Green fuel canals and sugarcane fields are locked up and owners fined $4 a day for a single cattle. Implementation of this programme has been problematic if not chaotic due to the absence of a clear boundary and clarity on what constitutes trespassing. The involvement of council and a section of traditional leadership have been carefully roped in to protect the interests of Green fuel while heavily taxing the community.

Temperatures are rising with villagers accusing Green fuel of literally punishing them for owning cattle. Most villagers who have confided in Platform for Youth Development believes this plan was a ploy by Green fuel to pay their security guards from the  proceeds received from the fines charged.Naison Mudhluli of Machona  village provided us with a receipt where he had paid $56 for his 8 cattle held over two days(11-13 September 2015) .He was unable to pay for two calves that the guards demanded were supposed to be paid for despite age.Naison’s  case is very touching because he had to borrow from relatives after exhausting his savings. Getting a dollar nowadays is not easy as the economic situation has become biting on many average families who are now affording only one meal a day.

The picture shows Naison Mudhluli taking his impounded cattle home after paying a fine of $56

The plight of villagers goes to the extent of revealing that the kraals where the impounded cattle are kept has no feeds making it a concern for those  cattle  captured for more than one day.Taurai Mubhongo (33) of Mutumburi village was in tears as she narrated her ordeal at the hands of Green fuel security guards manning the Kraals. Taurai Mubhongo paid $12 instead of $24 for her two cattle that had been locked for three days from the 4^th of September 2015.What makes Taurai Mubhongo’s case interesting is the fact that one of her cattle locked by the security guards is missing. She has since reported the case of her missing cattle at Chisumbanje police station on the 11^th of September 2015 but did not get the deserved attention on the matter.Taurai Mubhongo who is a mother of three believes that the police are not willing to pursue her case due to the collusion between Green fuel security guards and police at Chisumbanje

This is a case to confirm that boundary issues remain sticky and a threat to co existence between Green fuel and the community at large. Majority of members whose cattle were held for trespassing are worried that the idea of impounding is neither a solution nor a properly consulted approach. The idea of impounding cattle was tried between 2010 and 2012 and failed. Then, one cattle was charged $10 per day and this caused pandemonium and serious divisions muddled with underhand dealings between security guards and criminal activities found in the local community. Re introducing a failed programme indicates that Green fuel does not respect wider consultations but their own economic interests to protect their sugarcane. A villager from Muyondozi village, Wallen Khumbuyani also accuse some elements within the community who owns no cattle but supports the impounding of cattle as a selfish way of dealing with their own differences with individuals with cattle.Khumbuyani revealed a case in which a known villager who has always lost the mandate to represent the community was spotted driving cattle of a neighbor to the sugarcane as a way of ensuring that the cattle are impounded to fix.  Green fuel officials are guilt for continuing to implement a programme that encourages so much hate and division in the community.

Green fuel security guards claim that the demand for sugarcane has been high therefore impounding cattle was a way of discouraging head boys from coming close to the sugarcane fields. Due to shortage of grazing space and feeds most areas in Chipinge South converge along Jerawachera River and Magokova area where they camp for weeks in turns. Green fuel alleges that these herd boys drive their cattle close to the canals as a way to then sneak into the sugarcane fields.

Platform for Youth Development would want the programme of impounding cattle to be reviewed with a more representative stakeholder involvement. There has been allegations to the effect that the money paid for fine is also being shared with the paramount Chief Garahwa.

PYD pressures for boundary dispute resolution between the community and Chisumbanje ethanol project

Introduction

This article seeks to highlight the positive impact that has been made by the Platform for Youth Development Trust (PYD), in the resolution of the pending boundary dispute involving Chisumbanje ethanol project and the communities in Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa villages in Chipinge. The dispute which started in 2009 has at times turned violent with the villagers and Green fuel embroiled in a tug of war over the boundary and land ownership. Platform for Youth Development was then fully mandated by the communities in Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa to find ways of amicably resolving this standoff in which Green fuel was using superior tactics of exclusion, coercion, unwarranted police arrest and the use of political connections to prevail. The writer is convinced that the mediation and involvement of PYD in this dispute successfully ignited the young people in Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa with the energy to understand how the right to land is linked to other inalienable rights being violated. The article also defends the idea of engagement and research as the new frontiers of advocacy that produces lasting results for community development.

The Boundary dispute

In fulfilling a community mandate to resolve the boundary dispute, Platform for Youth Development led an information advocacy that sought to get boundary clarification between the claim to land as shared by Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa communities to that popularized by the funders of Green fuel. The fact that the dispute is still ongoing points to the existence of many players with confusing roles that benefit from the dispute.PYD was able to intervene by listening and involving the community stakeholders to share their experiences. With a combination of research, engagement and confrontation, the dispute is now well defined and ready for resolution.

Research results

 The Chisumbanje ethanol project started as  a 20 year  Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) which was signed between Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) in Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi with Ratings Investment and Macdom Pvt Ltd (companies fully controlled  by Billy Rautenbauch).The business deal was purportedly signed in 2007,during the then Agriculture Minister, Rugare Gumbo. The contents of the business deal retained 70 percent stake to the companies of Billy Rautenbauch and only 30 percent for ARDA.ARDA was penciled to receive 10 percent as management fees from the companies of Rautenbauch and also entitled to an 8 percent share of the revenue generated from the annual production. According to the then Portfolio committee on Agriculture, Water and Resettlement chaired by Hon Moses Jiri referred to by Daily News of 18/10/2011, the Ethanol project when fully completed, would take up 50 000 hectares of sugarcane for the ethanol production (40 000 from Chisumbanje and 10 000 from Middle Sabi).The formal details of the BOT business model remain shrouded in secrecy. This detail from PYD is further reinforced by research studies contacted by Matondi (2010) and Matopo (2012).

Platform for Youth Development has  engaged with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development through Hon Joseph Made, his permanent Secretary Ngoni Masoka, the then Prime Minister Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai,his deputy Professor Arthur Mutambara,the then Minister of Parastatals Mr. Goden Moyo,the then Co Minister of Home Affairs Hon Theresa Makoni,the then Minister of Energy Hon Elton Mangoma,ARDA Board chairperson Basil Nyabadza and the then Green fuel Manager,Mr Graeme Smith. Today the boundary issue is before parliament with the objective to have the boundary between Green fuel and the communities in Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa resolved amicably.

Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) was established by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1981 with the primary mandate to plan, coordinate, implement, promote and assist with agricultural development in Zimbabwe. For this long and until after the deal, ARDA Chisumbanje was in a lease agreement with the Chipinge Rural District Council and renting five thousand one hundred and twelve (5 112) hectares of land where it developed and farmed in line with its given mandate from the Ministry. The background of the land and boundary conflict emanates from the fact that when the BOT was signed there was an assumption that ARDA would provide 40 000 hectares of land. In his public presentations Basil Nyabadza the ARDA board chair provides a historic narrative that claims ARDA has always retained the ownership of 40 000 hectares which ARDA had not been fully utilizing.Nyabadza also claim that the community in Chisumbanje always knew that they were using ARDA land and would have to move out when time arises. Platform for Youth Development has helped the affected communities and the public to dismiss the statements by Nyabadza on the strength that community elders are more convincing in their knowledge of ARDA boundary and any other historical engagements made between ARDA and the post colonial government. Platform for Youth Development is aware that there was a feasibility study carried by Atkins Lands and Water management with encouragement from World Bank in 1983.The report proposed the expansion of the greater Chisumbanje development scheme which exceeded 37 000 hectares (Atkins and Water Management 1983).The referred feasibility study was never implemented and this is what Basil Nyabadza erroneously claim parceled the land to ARDA despite it being a mere research gathering dust at the ARDA archives. PYD has documents that prove that ARDA can only claim the 5 112 hectares that it was leasing from Chipinge RDC.Infact, there was an attempt by ARDA to apply for more land at the Chipinge RDC of which they were never given a positive response other than being asked to provide a comprehensive projection of how the project would unfold and involve the community.

Platform for Youth Development has done research in the communities of affected villagers where it has been confirmed statistically that one thousand seven hundred and fifty four (1754) households have been displaced .The gravity of the displacement were being underestimated in the public domain especially considering that each household has an average of six members translating to 10 524 human beings displaced from their original homes. There have been cases of desperation and mental illnesses resulting from the impact of the unplanned displacement. Other recorded social challenges were increased cases of divorce, prostitution and crime that broke many families that used to be intact before the introduction of the ethanol project. Platform for Youth development was then able to lobby for compensation of those who lost their land to pave way to the ethanol project. The compensation was to be done through a popularly elected committee mixed with experts from Agritext.

Engagement and community action

When the process of using popularly mandated stakeholders was being resisted by Green fuel, Platform for Youth successfully lobbied government to send a fact finding mission. In September 2012 a ministerial committee of cabinet led by the then Deputy Prime Minister Prof Authur Mutambara was send to the community and assisted in setting up a all stakeholders committee named District Ethanol Plant Implementation Committee (DEPIC).The affected communities in Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa were able to notice the value of engagement and provided the necessary support to PYD to continue representing the community beyond their narrow and individual interests.

Platform for Youth Development has continued to work with parliament of Zimbabwe to monitor the operations at the ethanol project. There was once again an attempt by Green fuel after the harmonized elections of 2013 to abandon a stakeholders approach in response to political pressure from ZANU PF who now controls a super majority in parliament. Platform for Youth Development has successfully lobbied the portfolio committee on Youth, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment to visit Chisumbanje for public hearing. The committee visited in July 2014 and presented a community friendly report on the 18^th of February 2015 in parliament.PYD has an open line to parliament concerning the issues that concerns the community

Community based actions that involves demonstrations and picketing have all been done by the community at the project site to pressure Green fuel to respect the rights of employees and also to meet promises pledged to the community. There now exists a bond of trust between Platform for Youth Development and the affected communities in Chisumbanje and Chinyamukwakwa

Platform for Youth Development is involved in daily recording human rights violations, police brutality and corrupt activities being experienced at the ethanol project. To date, in September 2015, the boundary dispute is awaiting resolution through a raft of recommendations presented from the portfolio committee on Youth, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment who visited the community for public hearings. 

Conclusion

In concluding this paper, the writer has witnessed increased participation of young people in community issues in Chipinge. Young people are now able to share information through created platforms that has capacity to act in defence of their violated rights. It is clear from the presented facts that Platform for Youth Development is assisting the communities in Chipinge to stand up and defend their right to land through research, engagement and community action.

Claris Madhuku is a peace advocate and a community activist who is the director of Platform for Youth Development Trust. He can be contacted on clarismadhuku78@gmail.com

Overzealous Green fuel guards assault villagers over sugarcane in Chisumbanje

In  an act of brazen disregard of the law and professionalism, Green fuel security guards have assaulted Lucas Moyana and others over allegations of stealing sugarcane on the 28th of August 2015.Lucas Moyana (55) was severely beaten by security guards armed with sjamboks and guns together with his family members who included a five year old.

The Green fuel security guards working closely with police officers from Chisumbanje station descended on Lucas on the assumption that he and others should tell them or admit to having stolen sugarcane from the disputed land that was grabbed from the community by Green fuel. Lucas Moyana feels aggrieved and dehumanized by this act of beating him at 10pm in the night as if he was a criminal. Lucas just like many villagers with homesteads close to the sugarcane fields were not asked questions but just received beatings in an Ian Smith -policing style aimed at forcing them to accept a crime they are pleading innocent.PYD will file court papers in defence of Lucas Moyana and others who felt their rights were violated.
Platform for Youth Development has been on record complaining about these untrained guards and trigger happy police officers who have no respect for human rights and professional contact. It is worrying that the assault in question was done not only with the hand of police from Chisumbanje station but also with instruction from Green fuel management.

Platform for Youth Development is concerned that the involvent of Chisumbanje police is a retrogression to the relations PYD is trying to build between the villagers and the police.PYD is currently moderating relations between police at Chisumbanje and villagers over the increasing poor relations between the two parties. Police at Chisumbanje are being accused by villagers of receiving bribes from Green fuel to assist the latter from winning the boundary dispute by hook and crook. The use of force to arrest an innocent civilian such as in the case of Lucas Moyana is unwarranted and must be condemned in the strongest terms.

PYD is currently pursuing various complaints presented by the community and targeted at the police officers at Chisumbanje station. Some of the cases received are at the advanced stage with identified police officers being dragged to court by the public for overzealous contact such as the one involving Lucas Moyana.
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