Zanu-PF declares war against villagers on farm take over

The ruling ZANU PF party is reported to be in serious behind the scenes action to make sure that villagers of Maleme Village in Matobo are pacified to allow the under dispute Maleme Ranch to be allocated to a senior Central Intelligence Officer.

Information released to media by reliable sources within the party who are against Rodrick Mashingaidze being given the farm belonging to Peter Cunningham, claim that an instruction has been given to the party's leadership in Matabeleland South to make sure that the decision to accord Mashingaidze the farm is not reversed.

Maleme Ranch which belongs to the Cunningham family was allocated to Mashingaidze last year through an allocation letter signed by Minister of State for Matabeleland South Abednico Ncube last year. Villagers in the are have resisted the allocation of the farm to Mashingaidze as they prefer to have the farm under the Cunningham family which has been assisting the villagers with agricultural projects and training. Maleme Ranch also houses Ebenezer College and Shalom Camp.

According to the sources in the party, Vice President Phelekhezela Mphoho has been sent by the party to the area to appease villagers into agreeing to have the Cunningham family removed from the farm and given to Mashingaidze. The sources claim that a strategy to manipulate the weekend meeting has been put up where a "majority" is going to be designed to denounce the white family.

The sources claim that a huge number of ZANU PF supporters and War Veterans is expected to be bussed in for the meeting in ZANU PF tshirts with placards denouncing the white family silencing the dissenting voices of the few Maleme villagers. The sources claim that contingent of ZANU PF youth will be deployed in the area starting on Friday evening for the Sunday meeting. The youth are under the instruction to make sure that as many people are force marched to the rally and dressed in ZANU PF regalia.

Meanwhile, on the other hand villagers have vowed that they will make sure that the farm is not taken from the Cunninghams "whatever it takes." In recent media interviews, the villagers vowed that they will die fighting for the land  and will never allow Mashingaidze to set his foot in the area.

"I was born here in 1941 and have co-existed well with the Conollys who were running that farm, the
relationship even became better when Peter Cunningham who was the latter's in-law took over," said a villager in an interview.

"We have realised immense development of this community due to our relationship with the farm and we will not let all that go to one man, who does not even come from this district," said the villager, Morris Ndlovu. He said their area had benefitted from a lot of infrastructure by their association with the Maleme ranch and it included roads, schools and a dam.

"It is clear for everyone to see that Mashingaidze has nothing to offer the people here, the very fact that he
want to wrestle a farm from the people is a good sign, if he was a genuine and a sincere man, he would have approached the people like a gentleman," said Ndlovu.

He added: "The day that Mashingaidze occupies that
farm, we are going to invade it. We would rather be shot and die there because it is our land, not his. He is from Mashonaland, he only came here to work, he is not from this community. We don't know him."
Ndlovu said they will never welcome Mashingaidze and would not be allowed to grab "the people's farm."