By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa has blamed the governing ZANU PF for the land dispute between Chinese miners and villagers in Uzumba and elsewhere around the country.
He said political elites were disregarding the interests of the ordinary man as they are benefitting from Chinese mining projects.
His remarks come at the backdrop of a land feud between villagers in Uzumba and a Chinese-owned Heijin mining company in which about 70 families are set to be evicted.
The company recently bragged that it had the authority to displace the villagers because they had no title deeds to the land they were occupying.
Chamisa told NewsDay that the same unsettling pattern happened in Chilonga, Chiredzi in Masvingo province, the diamond-rich area of Chiadzwa, ethanol projects in Chisumbanje, and other resource-rich areas where locals were displaced.
He said:
It is not an isolated incident, these things which are happening in Uzumba and Mutoko. It is a system where the ordinary people are disregarded and thrown off their land for the benefit of the elite.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba recently took to social media, accusing the MDC Alliance of pretending to care about the welfare of locals.
Chamisa dismissed Charamba’s assertions saying he was displaying “a mercenary mindset”.
He added:
He has a mercenary mindset. We are a people-centred party which believes that Zimbabwe is not for sale and should not be sold. On the other hand, they are selling the country to their friends at the expense of our people. They sold Chisumbanje, Uzumba, Chilonga and parts of Hwange and they do it without shame.
There is a growing concern in some quarters that China is becoming the new imperialist that is in Africa to plunder and loot resources.
China is accused of extending loans and making generous donations to Africa, Zimbabwe in particular, to clear the path for Chinese companies to exploit the country’s natural resources.
However, China refuted the claims saying its assistance is never offered in exchange for natural resources or with natural resources as collateral.