SPECIAL REPORT: The untold story of Tokwe Mukosi

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UNTOLD human suffering and congestion at Chingwizi Transit Camp could have been avoided if government had not carried out a wholesale eviction of people
UNTOLD human suffering and congestion at Chingwizi Transit Camp could have been avoided if government had not carried out a wholesale eviction of people living near Tokwe-Mukosi dam project. The removal of people who were not under immediate threat of rising water levels created congestion at the camp where moral decadence is said to be on the rise.

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Report by Walter Marwizi Pictures by Silence Charumbira

chingwizi

Over 18 000 people have taken refuge, with some living in tents while others sleep in the open.

Information gathered by this paper shows that the situation at Chingwizi could have been less distressing if only those people directly affected by the floods had been moved out of the area.

With a lesser number of needy people, the limited resources available could have been used to mitigate the disaster and lessen human suffering. Information at hand shows that 100 people are treated of diarrhoea at Chingwizi on a daily basis. Water is hard to get and women wait long hours to get the precious commodity.

The indiscriminate manner in which people were moved out of their homes by soldiers emerged last week when The Standard toured Zunga communal area, which is in the basin of the dam, right up the dam wall.

The Standard held many interviews with the affected villagers, many of them now resident at Chingwizi. They had returned to their old homes to harvest their crops after experiencing extreme hunger at the transit camp.

Mazivirofa Muzenda and his wife Mirika Tambe returned to their old home on Sunday to harvest maize.
Mazivirofa Muzenda and his wife Mirika Tambe returned to their old home on Sunday to harvest maize.

They all expressed concern over the manner in which they were ordered to leave their homes, even though they were not in danger of the floods.

They said if they had not been commandeered to leave their houses, Chingwizi could have less people, making it easy for government and donors to provide them with food and shelter.

The villagers who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, said the floods may have provided government with a convenient excuse to evict people who were refusing to move out of the area without getting compensation.

“There are lots of people who have not been compensated. They were not willing to leave their homes for the sake of a game park. Now we are powerless to negotiate. We can only hope that we will be resettled at Nuanetsi,” said an elderly woman.

The villagers also bemoaned the fact that the dam had submerged their relative’s graves with more burial places expected to be affected as the water levels continued to rise.

“Government never made any plan for the graves of our loved ones. The floods simply covered them. When I look at this lake, I think of my father, mother and grandparents. I will never be able to see their graves again. It’s a closed chapter,” said a 45-year-old man, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Voices from Chingwizi Transit Camp

‘PLEASE HELP MY DAUGHTER’

EpilepsyWINNET Bhasikiti sits forlornly in a tent at the old people section of the camp set up by the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society.

The 29-year-old, who relies on her mother for everything, cannot walk and suffers from constant epilepsy seizures.

Her mother Netsai (64) is there to ensure that she gets food, shelter, bathes and is able to go to the toilet. Under normal circumstances, it would have been easy for Netsai to render the assistance needed by her daughter, but life at Chingwizi is not normal.

Restricted to a small tent, Winnet has no choice but to sit in there all day, absorbing the searing heat. Outside there is no tree that could provide the much-needed shade.

Her mother agonises over her inability to help her daughter who frequently collapses, because she cannot access medicine for her condition.

“My daughter is trapped here. Day and night, she is in here,” laments Netsai.

“When she wants to relieve herself, I have to carry her out of the tent, but where do I take her? The makeshift toilets are very dirty, and the bush is even worse.

I don’t know what we did to deserve such a life, and for how long we can endure this kind of life?” Netsai appealed for medicines for her daughter.

Couple mourns 4-month-old baby

1-lost a babyHandinyari Mwise (35) and his wife Nyarai Mawere (28) (pictured left) are in mourning.

The couple lost their four-month-old baby on March 15. He became the first baby to die at the camp, leaving the two devastated.

I found Mwise in a tent shade, repairing a small old potable radio.

His wife, with strain all over her face, said the baby was ill for only two days, and died on the third day. It is suspected she succumbed to pneumonia.

“We had high hopes for our baby, but they were all dashed,” said the soft-spoken Mwise.

“We took her to the camp clinic on March 14, and the following day, on March 15, she passed on.”

The couple, who lives in a tiny tent, lost most of their property to the floods. They were evacuated by a boat from their home at 21B resettlement.

nyarai mawere ‘We want our lives back’

 

1-baby rashALEX Joseph Bhasikiti (31) and his wife Aleta Makani (pictured left) are anxious about the disease afflicting their 10-month-old baby.

Two weeks ago, Mission started developing a rash on her body. They went to the clinic where she got five injections.

“We were hoping the rash would disappear forever. It’s back again, we don’t know how this will end,” says Aleta.

The family stays in a shack made of zinc. The roofing material absorbs the hot temperatures, making their lives unbearable. When it rains, they all flee the shelter.

“The rains come with strong winds that violently lift the zinc sheets, turning them into lethal weapons,” explained Bhasikiti.

“Several people have been injured by the flying sheets.”

“The powers that be, I don’t think any of them is willing to come and stay under these conditions,” he said.

“We are living like pigs and they don’t seem to care. Yes, we are grateful we are receiving food rations, but surely hatizi huku dzinofarira kukandirwa chikafu isu. (There is more to life than getting handouts). We had homes, we had our dignity, but our lives are now at a standstill, we want our lives back.”

The couple’s damaged leather sofas do not fit in the shack and they are outside getting exposed to the vagaries of the weather.