GOVERNMENT officials have been accused of grabbing land at the Kanondo area earmarked for the relocation of villagers from Lubimbi to pave way for the Gwayi- Tshangani dam catchment area.
Binga South legislator Fanuel Cumanzala (Citizens Coalition for Change) made the allegations yesterday adding that the Lubimbi villagers were supposed to be relocated to the Kanondo area.
Cumanzala said there were reports that senior government officials are eyeing the fertile land in the area for personal use in the absence of concrete plans to relocate the villagers.
“Nothing tangible has been done. They have just identified the area where they are likely to relocate because there are government officials who want to benefit from that area. Maybe only a few villagers might benefit,” he told Southern Eye.
“Even the budget itself has not been discussed. We might discuss it maybe next week.”
Last month, the government said villagers from Lubimbi in the Gwayi-Tshangani catchment area will be relocated to the Kanondo, where they had lived before white settlers displaced them during the colonial era.
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Local Government and Public Works ministry spokesperson Gabriel Masvora confirmed the development saying the place was selected because it bears a historical background for the villagers.
The government early this year revealed that it had identified land to construct houses for Lubimbi villagers to be relocated from the Gwayi-Shangani Dam catchment area.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister Richard Moyo, however, said there was no funding yet for the relocation programme.
He said they had identified the area but what was left was drilling boreholes, constructing houses and schools, among others.
Moyo said the budget for all the infrastructural development was sent to the Treasury and they are waiting for the funds to be released.
He said the funds were expected to be released during the first quarter of this year.
Moyo said the villagers would remain at their present location until houses had been constructed in Binga district’s Lusulu area.
He said civil work had already commenced at the site where the villagers will be relocated.