The Sunday Mail has reported that some unidentified people from South Africa gave some money to Chilonga villagers in Chiredzi to persuade them to resist the government-planned eviction that is meant to pave way for a lucerne grass project by Dendairy.
The state-run publication reports that headman Mashanyele said even the visit by some MDC Alliance officials including former Finance Minister Tendai Biti was meant to influence the residents. Mashanyele allegedly said:
I told my people not to entertain these people because we knew they had their own agendas.
After the visit by opposition party leaders, who had never been to our area before, we knew that there was a nefarious agenda behind the uproar.
Several stakeholders have spoken against the eviction of Chilonga people from their ancestral lands.
The evictions were described by human rights defenders as a violation of both domestic and international human rights laws.
Responding to reports that unidentified people from South Africa had descended on Chilonga and influenced the local residents to resist the government’s plans, some social media users said the government was hiding behind the finger.
More: The Sunday Mail