CIO boss grabs Mhangura farm, evicts 200 school children

A SENIOR Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officer, Hickman Nyarumwe, has reportedly seized a Mhangura farm and moved to evict over 200 from a satellite school situated there, NewZimbabwe.com can report.

The farm is situated at Two Tree along the Lions' Den-Mhangura Road.

Sources who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com at the weekend said Ministry of Lands district officials, led by one Muondori, visited the area and told villagers the satellite school had ceased operations following its takeover by Hickman Nyarumwe, who is also a former liberation war combatant.

A local Zanu-PF leader who simply identified himself as identified Mavezere confirmed the incident to NewZimbabwe.com.

"Ministry of Lands officials came here and told us there no longer was a school as the place had been demarcated as a plot and allocated to a comrade Nyarumwe. Teachers requested to see the requisite documents, but the lands officials didn't have any," Mavezere said.

"The entire community is shocked. Panic has gripped everyone as this is reminiscent of what happened sometime ago when some households were displaced by powerful war veterans who took over their land. We are now faced with a sad reality of losing a school with an enrolment of over 200 learners to these war veterans, who drop names of political heavyweights to instil fear," he said.

Mavezere said the Two Tree community sought help from legislator, Precious Chinhamo-Masango, who advised the school development committee (SDC) and local councillor to seek audience with relevant ministries to resolve the matter.

The land grab has caused consternation among the community which relies on the makeshift school, and its closure could result in the majority dropping out of school as parents cannot afford to enrol their children at far-away institutions at Lion's Den or Mhangura town.

The school, sited at an abandoned farmhouse, tobacco sheds and barns, occupies over 20 hactares of land, which has since been taken over by the Karoi-based CIO operative.

According to sources, Nyarumwe was Vice President Constantino Chiwenga's instructor during the guerilla war that ushered the country's independence in 1980 and enjoys cordial relations with the country's second most powerful man.

Efforts to get comment from lands officer Muondori were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable by the time of publishing.