Staff Reporter
MASVINGO– State security agents and pro-ruling party activists have intensified surveillance and intimidation of Chilonga villagers who are mobilizing against displacement from their ancestral land in the lowveld, a local rights organization has said.
The predominantly Shangani community of Chilonga is facing eviction from about 13,000 hectares of land to pave way for a government-backed lucerne grass farming project.
The evictions are being enforced through Statutory Instrument 50 of 2021 which directs approximately 12,000 villagers to vacate their ancestral homes.
Ephraim Mtombeni, the Director of Masvingo Centre for Research and Development (MACRAD), confirmed the escalation in an interview.
“From the reports that we are receiving from our point persons in Chilonga, it is worrying that cases of surveillance and intimidation of villagers that are resisting eviction are on the rise,” Mtombeni said.
He added that the climate of fear has already forced some villagers to temporarily relocate from their homes.
The lucerne project is part of government efforts to boost fodder production for livestock, but residents argue that it comes at the cost of their ancestral land, cultural heritage, and livelihoods.
This is not the first time Chilonga villagers have clashed with authorities over the land. Community members and rights groups have previously challenged SI 50 of 2021 in court, arguing that the government did not conduct proper consultations and that the displacement violates constitutional protections on customary land rights.
Human rights defenders say the current surge in surveillance is meant to break the community’s resistance ahead of any physical relocation.
MACRAD and other civil society organizations are calling for an immediate halt to the intimidation and for government to engage the villagers in genuine dialogue.
Efforts to get a comment from the Ministry of Lands and local government officials were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
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