By-Zanu PF supporters in Chegutu East facing evictions have said that they would dump President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the opposition in the 2023 elections.

About 300 families allocated land in Chegutu may be displaced to make way for a proposed platinum mine for a Chinese firm.

Most plot holders are retired civil servants who depend on small-scale farming.

The disgruntled villagers held a meeting at Hopewell farm in Chegutu, where they blamed Mnangagwa for their possible displacement. One of the villagers said:

Even he (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) if we are evicted, the election is coming, who will vote for him, how will he win the election?

Will the Chinese vote for him? Will one person make him win? They cannot support one corrupt person at the expense of hundreds.

We fought for this land, and you cannot tell us to leave, where do you want us to go as old as we are?

Hurumende ngaiticherechedzewo, murombo haavigwi ari mupenyu munotoumirira kuti afe.

We suffered for this land and our pain cannot go in vain because of one person.

Another plot holder who spoke during the meeting expressed dismay over the development. He said:

Yes, we fought the whites and they left, now fellow blacks are fighting us, we cannot be fighting each other.

Thousands of Zimbabweans across the country have been displaced to make way for big business as the “Second Republic” apparently shows scant regard for local people’s right to land.

-Online