Illegal settlers face eviction

Hurungwe Rural District Council will start evicting illegal settlers who have built homes on grazing lands, reserved for game and along waterways.

Council chief executive officer Mr Joram Moyo said corrupt village heads in Hurungwe's communal and farming areas were taking bribes to allow people to settle on undesignated lands.

He said these parallel "resettlement programmes" would soon end. Some of the illegal settlers, Mr Moyo said, were even demanding council services such as roads and water.

"We are calling for support from all stakeholders so that we can effectively stamp out these illegal settlements. We want to carry out the evictions any time.

"Those village heads who illegally allocated them (illegal settlers) the land will find them where to go. The situation is very much out of hand. It's all tobacco barns and huts right in the heart of our game areas.

"Our Campfire (Community Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) which used to be a vibrant source of income for council is slowly dying due to the obtaining chaos," said the council boss.

He also bemoaned how illegal settlers were spawning deforestation through cutting firewood for sale and tobacco curing.