A farm in Mazowe that belongs to former Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe has been invaded by illegal gold miners conducting gold panning activities on the property.
Reporters from the Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday found them uprooting lemon trees, digging shafts and loading gold ore into lorries.
According to a police report later obtained by the New Zimbabwe website, Mrs. Mugabe says the gold diggers damaged property worth thousands of dollars. Mugabe also told police the invaders stole farming equipment.
“On the 29th day of March 2018 at around 11:30 hours‚ I was touring my farm‚ Smithfeld‚ when I arrived at lemon pool section‚ I was shocked to find a group of approximately 400 men busy illegally panning for gold.
I then asked them to stop their activities since I am the owner of the farm and I am the holder of a special grant for the whole area. However‚ the crowd‚ which was being led by one known as Nyazvigo‚ started to shout obscenities at me and continued with their unlawful activities.
The illegal activities have since destroyed my irrigation infrastructure‚ which feeds lemons pool section‚ and there is massive land degradation‚” the statement read.
The special grant given to Mugabe is recorded under number 6045 and was signed in June in 2016‚ by the mines and mining development ministry.
The illegal gold panners have so far refused to leave the property. bbc
via Loud Naija Media