Africa News
Zimbabwe farm evictions: Animals moved onto farm despite court interdict─── 05:43 Wed, 14 Jan 2015
Harare - Wildlife officials in Zimbabwe are about to begin moving game onto a farm linked to First Lady Grace Mugabe -- even though a court has ordered police to stop evicting villagers from the area, it was reported late Tuesday.
The state ZBC broadcaster said in a report on its website: "The National Parks and Wildlife Authority has taken control of Manzou Farm in Mazowe and will soon be translocating wild animals from other sanctuaries to the nature reserve."
The farm "will soon be habitat to the Big Five and other wildlife", it added.
There was outrage last week after police burned down houses and tried to evict around 150 families from Manzou estate, which is near Grace's dairy and orphanage in the central Mazowe district.
The ruling Zanu-PF party denies Grace has anything to do with the evictions and says the farm is merely being returned to its status as a national heritage site.
But Grace is reported to have told a rally in Mazowe last year that she wanted to take over a nearby conservancy and use it to generate income for her orphanage.
On Monday the High Court barred police from evicting villagers from the park. No mention was made of that ruling in the report.
Sapa
