The Financial Gazette

GWERU — ZANU-PF finds itself between a rock and a hard place on how to deal with squatters who invaded Wildb-eest Farm owned by Derrick Shaw, located 10 kilometres east of Gweru along Shurugwi Road.
About 250 families invaded the farm last year and to date, they are still on the farm despite threats by Midlands Governor, Jason Machaya, to forcibly remove them.
The farm falls under Chiwu-ndura Constituency, which was won by ZANU-PF’s Kizito Chivamba in the 2008 elections.
The party would want to grow its support base after it won the seat by a measly 46 votes when the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) fielded two candidates in the constituency, which swayed the popular vote in favour of the incumbent. As such, any evictions would be tantamount to disenfranchising supporters sin-ce the invaders are card-carrying members of the revolutionary party and attempts to have them evicted would alienate them at a time when the party is gearing itself for elections this year.
The party’s supreme decision-making body, the politburo, resolved last week that elections would be held this year with or without a new constitution to end the shaky inclusive government.
Machaya, accompanied by senior police, army and prisons officials, last year went to  Wildbeest Farm where he threatened to evict the squatters  if they do not comply with the order to vacate the farm.
He indicated then that the squatters were going to be kicked out of the farm because keeping them at the property was tantamount to tolerating corruption.
“That place (Wildbeest Farm) has been allocated to other people and if they want land they have to go through the right channel that is through the District Administrator (DA) and the Lands Committee because if we allow them to stay it will appear as if we are condoning corruption,” Machaya said.
In a climb down on his earlier assertions this week, the governor said the government will allow the invaders to stay on humanitarian grounds until the DA’s office and the Lands Committee have concluded their case.
“Officials from the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement came to the farm and have finished pegging the plots.
“We have decided to have the invaders stay as the DA’s office and Lands Committee are having challenges in the selection process.
“We also took into account the fact that we are in the middle of the farming season and it would be cruel for us to let them leave when they have not harvested their crops.
“In any case, we have identified Senale Farm where we would relocate the families if the land is not enough,” Machaya said. — Own Correspondent.