Police Detain Manicaland Villagers For Tilling Macdom Land
Jonga Kandemiiri
Police on Thursday detained 40 villagers from Chinyamukwakwa in Chisumbanje, Manicaland, for almost four hours at Chisumbanje police station on allegations that they tilled land that belongs to Macdom Investments and the Green Fuel Ethanol Company.
Claris Madhuku, a member of the Joint Ethanol Plant Implementation Committee set up to promote co-existence between the company and the villagers, said the police used Green Fuel Ethanol Company vehicles to transport the villagers, who were later released without charge.
Madhuku, who also heads the Platform for Youth Development Trust, tells VOA that the villagers should not have been arrested, as they have the right to work in the fields.
He said that was the directive from the inter-ministerial committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara which was set up by Cabinet to look into community and social issues threatening the ethanol project.
