‘First Lady has not invaded Manzou Farm’
THE First Lady has not invaded Manzou Farm in Upper Mazowe Valley as claimed by sections of the private media, and such insinuations reflect a sinister agenda to tarnish the name of the First Family, Government has said.
Further, at no point has the family monopolised water abstraction from Mazowe Dam as alleged in some phoney media outlets.
The private media has embarked on a sustained onslaught against the First Family, particularly the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe, accusing her of taking over Manzou Farm and Mazowe Dam.
Most of the stories stem from a report compiled by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission on alleged complaints by the so-called Arnold and Valeria Farms residents.
Verified information by our Harare Bureau from various Government departments and provincial authorities in Mashonaland Central shows that Manzou Farm was declared a national heritage site in terms of the National Museums and Monuments Act and as such no one should be resettled on it.
With regards to Mazowe Dam, it emerged that it is jointly owned by Mazowe Citrus (60 percent) and the Government of Zimbabwe (40 percent).
The First Family, as farmers in Mazowe, is among a host of other farmers drawing water from the dam.
Other farms that access water from the same dam are Laurancedale Farm (where there are four farmers) Georgia West Plot, Cornucopia Farm, Hamilton Farm and Mazowe Citrus.
In a wide ranging interview with our Harare Bureau, Mashonaland Central Minister of State Advocate Martin said the First Family had become victims of a negative media campaign sponsored by the country’s enemies.
He explained that the provincial lands committee of Mashonaland Central in fact invited the First Family to develop Manzou Farm after noting exceptional developments they were undertaking at their children’s home and dairy farm in Mazowe.
Adv Dinha also explained the legal status of the farm in question.
“My office took interest of the report from the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission after the negative and inflammatory reportage in the opposition press abusing this report to vilify the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe,” he said.
“I must point out that while I disagree with some of the findings of the report, at no point does it direct or order the First Family to do anything. In fact, the report has various recommendations to State actors and Government which we will take note of and implement. It is mischievous and misdirected for the opposition press and anyone for that matter, to unjustly peddle falsehoods and make unfounded allegations against the First Family and in particular Amai Dr Grace Mugabe and His Excellency the President,” Adv Dinha said.
“I want to place it on record as I have done before that Manzou Game Reserve is a designated Parks and Wildlife area. It was so before and after the land reform programme. In addition, Manzou and surrounding areas constitute the gazetted Nehanda National Monument which is as important and symbolic as the Great Zimbabwe Monument.”
He continued: “Critically, Manzou Game Conservancy and the surrounding farms are protected areas and should not be subjected to any settlement. Anyone who occupied or resettled in Manzou did so illegally. The State cannot promote or allow squatters or legalise illegal settlements. As provincial authorities, we have a duty to protect the environment and our heritage such as the sacred land of Gomba and Manzou where Mbuya Nehanda lived.
“She is our legendary heroine and symbol of our resistance to colonialism. The place around Manzou is sacred and allowing destruction of sacred sites such as Shavarunzi and Baradzanwa would be the highest level of irresponsibility in me as the Minister of State responsible for Mashonaland Central and the Government of Zimbabwe,” he said.
“The First Lady has done a lot for us in Mashonaland Central and Zimbabwe in general — building schools and looking after orphans at Mazowe Children’s Home and some poor minds want to find fault everywhere. We appreciate her good work and it is us as the province that have approached her to invest in critical areas for the good of our province and Zimbabwe. We will stand by our First Lady and the First Family as some of you seek to please your handlers and attract donor funding.”
National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe national director Dr Godfery Mahachi also confirmed that Manzou was a protected area as it was declared a national heritage site.
“The whole idea of national monuments is to preserve the landscape and obviously the reason to give monument status is to effectively protect the values of the cultural landscape identified,” he said.
“One of the challenges we have in protecting these values is human interference where sacred areas are destroyed, where people cut down vegetation and where various activities by people settled in the areas negatively affect the sacredness of the cultural landscape. For that reason, we try to make sure that human activity in gazetted areas is minimal. That requirement equally applies to Upper Mazowe Valley which covers the monument. The National Museums and Monuments is one of the stakeholders in that area and we are trying to protect the area. Other departments such as the Environmental Management Agency who have been alarmed by the amount of damage taking place in the area are also there. The First Family or no First Family, we don’t see it in that light but we are duty bound to protect the Upper Mazowe.”
Commenting on Mazowe Dam issue, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) public relations manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said: “Mazowe Dam is owned by Mazowe Citrus and the Government of Zimbabwe. Mazowe Citrus owns 60 percent of the available water in the dam with the Government owning the remainder. Zinwa allocates the 40 percent to any person wishing to irrigate using Mazowe Dam and the allocations are only made to people who would have entered into a water abstraction agreement with Zinwa as required by law.”
The First Family, like any other farmer in the area, benefits from Mazowe Dam.
“A number of other farmers have entered into water abstraction agreements with Zinwa in respect of irrigation water from Mazowe Dam,” said Mrs Munyonga.
Mrs Munyonga said the authority was not aware of any harassment of people taking place at or around Mazowe Dam and no individual or organisation had approached them complaining about the harassment or denial of access to the dam.
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management spokeman Mr Tinashe Farawo said they were issuing fishing permits to those interested in doing that business in Mazowe Dam as long as they met the set requirements. SOUTH African entertainer Zodwa Libram, popularly known as Zodwa Wabantu, will not perform at the Harare International Carnival next week as her appearance will be a travesty of the country’s culture.
Board of Censors (BOC) chairperson and former Cabinet Minister, educationist and historian Cde Aeneas Chigwedere said Zodwa’s appearance would have immoral overtones, hence the need to protect the community and youths.
Cde Chigwedere was speaking at the censorship board’s induction in Harare yesterday. “I had reserved my comment on the matter to Friday 5PM (today), but I might as well as make it now. There is no doubt that her (Zodwa) appearance is a travesty of our culture. We do not need a specialist to tell us that her dressing is a travesty. We must protect the community and the youths,” he said.
“We are told she will not be wearing a panty. It has serious immoral overtones. We will not expose our youths to such behaviour. The board is against the envisaged fashion. We do not want her. She may be acceptable to South Africa — maybe that is part of their culture – but when you are in Rome act like the Romans.”
Speaking at the same event, Home Affairs Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo said Government would support the decision made by the board. “You have made a good decision and we stand by you. Every nation has its values and norms and it is our duty to protect our culture. It is your duty (Board of Censors) not to give such artistes permits to perform,” he said.
“Your mandate as the board is derived from the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act Chapter 10:04. It is a well-known fact that the Constitution of Zimbabwe has a provision for the freedom of artistic expression, cultural beliefs and association.”
Dr Chombo said the same Constitution, through an Act of Parliament, empowers the board to ensure that the freedoms are reasonably limited so they do not infringe on other people’s rights.
He said the board was faced with many challenges in administering the Act given today’s environment where there is heightened scrutiny by members of the public, internet and social media use.
“I am pleased to note that BOC is coming up with an online project, which will facilitate the certification of publications, artistes and public media. This is an important step in working towards achieving seamless e-Government connectivity and complementing the Government policy thrust of enhancing the ease of doing business,” he said. “The online platform will improve the sharing of vital information to the other nine provinces that were not receiving the board’s services.”