By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|Those who live by the sword will die by the sword is an english adage which sums up the controversy surrounding the invasion of Crest Ibeka.
The farm was invaded by Zanu PF provincial chairman Ezra Chadzamira with the help of police details and soldiers. Chadzamira took it over from Yvonne Goddard a well known Zanu PF financier.
In a dramatic twist of events senior army officials and provincial CIO bosses are eyeing the farm and are determined to kick Chadzamira out. However Chadzamira is said to be seeking Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s protection since the securocrats are piling relentless pressure on him to vacate the farm. ZimEye.com has been informed the securocrats are also determined to take over the farm from Chadzamira in an arrangement they intend to partition it among themselves.
“There are CIO bosses and top military personnel who are eyeing the same property so they want to kick out Chadzamira so that they can partition the farm among themselves. Chadzamira is now seeking protection from Mnangagwa for the obvious reason that he belongs to the VP’s faction. So we are likely to witness twists and turns in the Cresta Ibeka saga,” said a senior provincial official.
Chadzamira who claimed the farm was underutilized is now under pressure from securocrats who are expected to convince President Robert Mugabe to fire him from the provincial chairmanship post. The controversial land grab exercise is widely blamed for crumbling of the nation’s economy with many analysts saying Zimbabwe, formerly the bread basket of Africa is now a basket case.