POLICE have ordered Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) ex-combatants to vacate a piece of land they occupied last week in Chinhoyi in protest over government’s failure to give them back their seized properties.
The government in the early 1980s seized numerous properties belonging to ZPRA ex-combatants and Zapu then led by the late nationalist and Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, alleging that it had discovered arms caches, precipitating Gukurahundi mass killings.
According to a Zapu inventory, the party owns several properties that include the four-storey Magnet House, which houses the Central Intelligence Organisation in Bulawayo.
ZPRA was the military wing of Zapu during the armed struggle.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa once promised to ensure the properties are returned to the former liberation fighters.
Last week, a group of ZPRA veterans camped in Pearview, a new suburb developed on a property allegedly belonging toNitram Holdings, a company established by former ZPRA fighters, in protest over failure by government to hand over the properties.
The ex-combatants also indicated that they are the rightful owners of both Old Chinhoyi Hotel and Caves Hotel, currently being managed by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in Chinhoyi.
Canaan Sibanda, a former ZPRA combatant, said police officers acting on the instruction of their superiors threatened to have them arrested if they did not vacate the area.
They were accused of trying “to shame the government”.
“Some police officers came and asked us to vacate the place and threatened to beat us if we disobey the order saying they have been sent by senior police officers at the provincial offices in Chinhoyi,” Sibanda said.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was not privy to the developments when contacted for comment.
“I’m still to be updated on what really happened before I can comment,” Nyathi said.
ZPRA veterans bought several properties across the country with contributions from their demobilisation payouts. A female ex-combatant in her early 70s, Patricia Ndlovu, said they contributed $50 from their demobilisation payouts to buy the properties.
Some of the properties include Clifford Farm and Highfield Estate in Norton that were allegedly seized by a late senior government official.
For years, Zapu and ZPRA have been demanding without success the release of their properties such as farms and buildings that are listed with caveats in their title deeds.
According to a Zapu inventory, seized party properties include farms and hotels, among them Green Haven, a huge entertainment facility along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway, Castle Arms in Bulawayo and several residential properties.
The party also owns Davies Hall, which is used by Zanu PF as its Bulawayo provincial headquarters.
Zapu also wants a property that houses over 50 police officers and their families in Queens Park East, Bulawayo, returned to it.
The property, previously known as Lundi Hotel, used to house injured Zapu cadres after the war of liberation.