Police steal more equipment from farmers in Chiredzi

By Tererai Karimakwenda
16 November 2005

The Masvingo Farm Equipment Committee led by Assistant commissioner Mrs. Ndanga has continued taking equipment illegally from farmers in the lowveld area. After hitting Mwenezi on Monday, they descended on Chiredzi on Tuesday.

Our contact in Chiredzi, farmer and manager Gerry Whitehead, became the group’s next victim just a day after he told us about the Mwenezi incidents. Whitehead reports that the group consisting of police, war vets and CIO spent the whole day loading equipment onto police trucks. The equipment taken belongs to Whitro Engineering, and a lot of it is customer work and machinery that does not fall under the farm equipment category. Whitehead estimates its value at about 5 billion Zim dollars.

Mrs. Ndanga spent the day lying down on the front seat of her pick up truck while the thugs loaded the equipment. She was informed that whitehead was applying for an interdict in the high court at that very moment and that he was awaiting the reply. Whitehead’s lawyer arrived and tried explaining this to her, but she immediately called other officers to come to her and they abused him. The lawyer then left as it was obvious that he would not get anywhere with them.