Stop Zim brutality on Lake Kariba

…as Siavonga residents plead with government to intervene

Residents in the border town of Siavonga have appealed to the Government to engage authorities in Zimbabwe over continued brutalising of Zambians found fishing on Lake Kariba by soldiers and park rangers.

Residents spoken to said they were worried about the continued brutality and arrests of Zambian fishermen by the Zimbabwe National parks rangers and solders. Recently a platoon of Zimbabwean solders attacked and brutalised Zambian fishermen on Lake Kariba before grabbing Kapenta fish from them.

Last week, four Zambian fishermen were jailed 8 months for allegedly straying into Zimbabwe waters on Lake Kariba.

The residents now want Government to take practical steps to protect the fishermen who have for a long time suffered at the hands of Zimbabwean soldiers and park rangers. More than 50 Zambians are presently serving various prison sentences in that country. One of the Residents Henry Simweemba said Government should ban Zimbabweans from crossing into Zambia to conduct small scale trade in borders areas until they stop harassing Zambians. He said while Zambia allowed Zimbabweans to freely cross into the country to conduct their business, Zimbabwean authorities had not reciprocated the gesture. ''Every day thousands of Zimbabweans come to our country to do business but when we go there we are mistreated like criminals. It’s high time Zambia, imposed sanctions on them so that the playing field is levelled.

''The latest incident where four Zambian fishermen were jailed for 8 months and Zimbabwean solders crossing into Zambia to harass citizens, is a clear indication that our government is not doing enough to stop Zimbabwe from misbehaving," said another concerned resident. The once Southern Africa food basket, Zimbabwe is struggling to provide food to its soldiers and police, let alone pay salaries to the men and women in uniform.