SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
ZAPU leader Dumiso Dabengwa
By Tichaona Sibanda SW Radio Africa 7 August 2014
ZAPU leader Dumiso Dabengwa has described the invasion of his Rudy farm in Nyamandlovu by ZANU PF supporters as ‘provocative’, warning that he’s prepared to defend his land.
Dabengwa, a former Zipra military commander who specialised in intelligence, said he’s being targeted because he’s not ZANU PF. The politician emphasized that he regards the farm as his pension because his ‘survival depends on it and nothing else.’
‘The invasion of my farm is provocative, disappointing and frustrating. We didn’t go to war to come back and grab a black man’s farm. My whole life depends on that farm which has over 300 heads of cattle,’ Dabengwa said.
The ZAPU leader told SW Radio Africa on Thursday he had been taken aback by instructions, allegedly from the ZANU PF hierarchy, for their supporters to grab all black owned farms in the Matebeleland region.
‘The crackdown on farmers who are opposed to ZANU PF is clearly political. Their message is quite clear that nobody has the powers to do anything about it. That message has been circulating on social media platform, WhatsApp,’ he said.
He refuted reports that the property is under utilised, explaining that when he bought the 1,200 hectare farm, long before the land redistribution program, he had been advised by Agritex to subdivide it.
‘In the summer season I was advised to use one part of the farm. Once winter sets in I switch to the other part of the farm until the rains come in and this is the part I recently moved my cattle to since there’s no more grazing in the other part. So you can see it’s clearly utilised,’ he added.
The ZANU PF invaders have already started clearing and pegging the area they want to put up their shacks. Dabengwa said he’s been to the police to report the invasion and nothing has been done about it.
‘I did my best and thought I was under the police protection of the country. But now I will take other steps myself to protect my land,’ he warned.