THOUSANDS of the displaced Tokwe-Mukosi Dam flood victims housed at Chingwizi are leaving the transit camp en masse to seek refuge with relatives while others are sleeping in the bush after revenge attacks by the police left others injured. TATENDA CHITAGU OWN CORRESPONDENT
Soldiers allegedly descended on Chingwizi early on Sunday morning and burnt down the flood victims’ tents in revenge attacks for the burning of two police vehicles by angry villagers during skirmishes on Saturday.
The raid by soldiers coincided with the arrest of about 300 villagers in connection with the arson attack.
The arrests continued into the evening with more police trucks transporting suspects to Triangle Police Station, about 30km away.
Villagers who spoke from their base where they are hiding said they had fled the camp fearing arrest.
“After the police cars were torched, we went into hiding in the nearby mountains.
“We knew the police were going to revenge by indiscriminately beating up everyone at the camp,” said a camp resident in hiding.
“The arrests were targeted at everyone. They are just taking away men they find in the camp, so we left our wives and children.”
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A woman who was arrested and taken to Triangle Police Station, but released on health grounds yesterday said she was contemplating leaving the camp fearing further harassment.
“I did not take part in the violence, but I was surprisingly arrested. I am ill and I could not have participated in the riots,” she said.
“I will be leaving the camp like many others who are going to their relatives because the camp is now a war zone.”
Chingwizi was hastily set up in February to accommodate about 3 000 families displaced by the flooding Tokwe-Mukosi Dam.
Villagers have been fighting the government since they moved into the camp accusing it of contributing to their misery and loss of property in the floods.
The families have refused attempts to relocate them to a new site before being compensated.
Tension escalated last week after President Robert Mugabe told the Zanu PF politburo that the villagers would only move to their new plots after being fully compensated.
The families are demanding $9 million from the government before they can leave the camp.
Two months ago, the families attacked a 10-member ministerial delegation dispatched to persuade them to relocate.
They also allegedly torched a police base at the camp accusing the cops of terrorising them.
Last month, Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Kudakwashe Bhasikiti scurried for cover after the villagers turned violent when he told them that money that had been earmarked for their compensation had been diverted towards civil servants’ salaries.
Several attempts, including cutting food handouts, to make villagers move to the new site have failed and it is now looking increasingly like force would be used to relocate them.
Meanwhile, the army yesterday said it was not involved in the Sunday raids. About 300 villagers are detained at the Triangle Police Station and have been sleeping in the open.
