Residents calls for banning of donkeys in the city

RESIDENTS of Gweru's Mkoba suburb have called on the city council to ban donkeys in the city which they say have become a nuisance.

Donkeys are a common sight in Mkoba and a bus stop in Mkoba Village 5 has been renamed "Pamadhongi" because of the high population of the beast of burden in the area.

"The donkeys belong to local firewood traders who use them to ferry firewood poached from the outskirts of the city.

"It seems once they knock off for the day, the owners leave their animals to roam the suburb destroying people's crops," said Enock Nyoni of Mkoba 5.

Last month, the "donkey war" took a nasty turn when an angry resident nearly chopped off the hind legs of a donkey he found in his maize field.

A fruit vendor known as Aunty Beauty said the donkeys had become a nuisance in the suburb where they were destroying people's crops as well as vegetables in their gardens.

Motorists said the donkeys were causing accidents.

Asked to comment, the city's Assistant Town Clerk, Tapiwa Marerwa, said council was not aware that donkeys were causing problems.

He said: "It is the first time that we are hearing about this donkey problem as the local authority. However, we are certainly going to investigate the matter and take the necessary steps."