Invasion of the Bulawayo City Council-run Mazwi Game and Nature Reserve by alleged Zanu PF supporters should be condemned in the strongest terms.
On Friday we reported that more than 100 people claiming to be Zanu PF supporters had descended on the nature reserve near St Peter’s village.
The rogues claimed to have the blessings of the Zanu PF leadership in Bulawayo, but the party has sought to distance itself from the invasion.
Mazwi is run by City of Kings Business Ventures, a council commercial undertaking set up to try and diversify the municipality’s revenue streams.
This is the second time the saboteurs who are using the Zanu PF name have descended on the game park after they were repelled last year.
The city council has vowed to use the law to eject the squatters just like it did during the last invasion.
However, the fact that police have not been decisive in dealing with the squatters shows that Zimbabwe still has a long way to go in as far as the rule of law is concerned.
The country went through a painful phase at the turn of the millennium when the government encouraged the violent seizure of private property disguised as land reform.
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Fourteen years after that sad episode in our history such lawlessness cannot be allowed to persist.
It is the responsibility of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to ensure that rule of law is restored at the Mazwi nature reserve.
The squatters should be kicked out of that game sanctuary as a matter of urgency and the police’s reluctance to move in against the illegal occupants is unacceptable to say the least.
Bulawayo City Council is struggling to discharge some of its vital duties due to cashflow problems and it must not be overburdened with dealing with these misfits when the police force is in place.
Police should be seen dealing with law breakers without fear or favour and the Mazwi squatters cannot be an exception.
