THE government has a long history of imposing development projects on citizens and the case of Siasundu villagers in Binga who are about to be evicted to pave way for the development of an urban centre is the latest example of this arrogance.
According to a report we published yesterday, the Binga Rural District Council and the Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development ministry have been taken to court by villagers protesting the arbitrary evictions.
The local authority reportedly plans to turn Siansundu into an urban area with modern amenities, but this would come at a cost to over 1 000 villagers who would lose their homesteads.
Villagers who have approached the Bulawayo High Court with the assistance of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZHLR) complain that they were not consulted about the developments.
The Binga council has reportedly allocated some stands for housing and social amenities without giving first preference to locals.
Affected villagers are particularly peeved by the fact that council workers have already started pegging stands on their homesteads without proper consultations.
Villagers with the assistance of ZHLR have tried to engage the local authority to no avail hence their last resort, approaching the courts.
It is possible that the council behaved this way because it never thought villagers would challenge its barbaric acts in court or through any other platform on the mistaken belief that they were not enlightened.
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Zimbabweans are increasingly becoming aware of their rights thanks to organisations such as ZHLR.
At a time when opposition politics is in disarray, a strong civil society is needed to keep the government in check.
Siasundu villagers, like other Zimbabweans, are entitled to have a say on how their land should be used.
Council should seek the villagers’ consent before embarking on a project of such a nature. We salute ZHLR for standing for the voiceless.
