From: "zakanaka" <lalapansi@yahoo.com>
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 25 April
Displaced Kondozi Farm workers now destitute
By Caiphas Chimhete and Nyasha Bhosha in Odzi
Odzi - "This government is cruel and inhuman. If Moyo (Jonathan Moyo)
can come here and see how we are suffering I think he will shed tears
even if he has a heart of stone. He should remember we are his mothers
and Zimbabweans too," said Mbuya Mapfumo (61), as tears trickled down
her shrivelled cheeks.
Barely able to sit upright on a reed mat, the only property that she
now owns, after riot police descended on Kondozi, one of the few
remaining productive farms in the aftermath of the 2000
government-sponsored farm invasions, Mbuya Mapfumo struggles to come
to terms with her predicament.
After being harassed and dumped by the roadside, she says she now
spends long cold nights in an open space opposite Odzi Post Office,
with no blankets to cover herself. Perhaps her only consolation is
that she is not alone in this predicament. "When we came back from the
Easter holidays we found our houses empty. Up to now, I don't know
where my blankets and the rest of the property is," said Winnet
Mukono. She added. "We are leading an indecent life here. We are
forced to bath, cook, eat and sleep in the open like animals. We have
become destitutes over night."
Such is the plight of several families at Odzi growth point, 40 kms
from Mutare, where thousands of farm workers were dumped by government
authorities after being evicted from the contested Kondozi Farm two
weeks ago. A Standard news crew which visited the crumbling growth
point on Friday found most of the workers sleeping in an open grassy
area without blankets.
There are no toilets or running water nearby. As a result, the
majority of the workers use the "bush system". The few communal
toilets at the growth point are over crowded and present an even worse
health hazard. A peak into the place reveals a pathetic situation with
human excreta almost everywhere and green flies - commonly known as
Green Bombers - hovering around in an apparent feeding frenzy. Other
Kondozi wor-kers have invaded Odzi's poorest location, "Kumacells",
where the huts stand just about two metres high.
There are fears that there could be an outbreak of diseases such as
diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, measles and TB because of over crowding
and the lack of sanitary facilities.
Some of the evicted farm managers, foremen and their families have
taken refuge in the disused Kahundewe Hotel, where there are no doors
and windows.
They have drawn lines on the dirty floor with chalk to demarcate "each
family's home". There are also fears that hundreds of children camped
with their parents at the growth point may not be able to attend
school when they reopen for lessons within the next two weeks. A
humanitarian organisation, the International Red Cross (IRC), that
tried to assist the Kondozi workers and their children has been barred
by the government, say the workers. The Kondozi workers say they are
still owed salaries by their previous employers, entrepreneur Edwin
Moyo and the Piet De Klerk family. A local councillor, Sodhi Muyambo,
was said to be trying to arrange a meeting with the MP for the area -
Chris Mushowe - so that they can find an alternative area to move the
workers. "We complained to him that we are now too crowded
and that the prostitution that is going on here is not good for our
children so he is running around trying to arrange meetings with the
MP," said one resident.
On the farm, Arda continues to reap where it did not sow. When The
Standard visited the farm, workers transported from other Arda farms
such as Chisumbanje, Middle Sabi and Silobela were busy in the fields
using vehicles and equipment owned by the previous owners of Kondozi.
However, some workers at the farm said water pumps and irrigation
pipes had been vandalised while some trucks and motorcycles were
removed from the farm. Piet De Klerk, a director of the farm, said the
occupation of Kondozi by Arda and the police had destroyed business.
"It's now in a mess. They have looted the equipment and they have
failed to spray disease preventative chemicals onto the crops
for the past three weeks. Apart from that workers were dumped at Odzi.
It is a humanitarian crisis in the making," said De Clerk. On
Thursday, Arda stepped up security at the farm following the arrival
of 15 militia to compliment security at the loss-making parastatal.
Tightening security and harvesting of crops by Arda defies Vice
President Joseph Msika's order that the parastatal vacates the farm
until proper channels are followed. Junior Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo has said "there is no going back" on
Kondozi.
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