Hwange villagers living in fear of landmines

 VILLAGERS in parts of Hwange District, especially Chisuma and Sizinda areas, are living in fear for their lives following the discovery of four landmines within a month.

On January 23, village head for Dibutibu under Chief Mvuthu, Mr Jabulani Ncube (51), discovered an M969 anti-personnel landmine lying on the ground while he was rounding up cattle.

Another one was found by another villager Mr Chitida Dube (61) of neighbouring Sizinda Village on February 11.

A special unit was dispatched by the Zimbabwe National Army last week on Friday in the company of police to detonate the landmines and they found that villagers had discovered another one in the same area.

Chisuma and Sizinda are closer to Zambezi River on the border with Zambia.

The three landmines were detonated.

Last week an 11-year-old girl from Mwebe Village under Chief Wange had her right leg amputed just above the knee after a landmine detonated while she was playing with her sibling and two cousins behind a hut.

Preliminary investigations by police show that the landmines have been exposed by heavy rains that have been falling in the country.

A demining exercise was carried out a few years ago in the area just as in other parts of the country, especially those along the borders where there where landmines were planted during the liberation war.

Police in respective areas have embarked on awareness campaigns in areas lying along the border to conscientise communities to be alert.

Acting Chief Mvuthu Mr Bishop Matata Sibanda said his subjects are living in fear.

“We know they once removed some landmines and i think these ones are being exposed by the rains. To us elders we can identify a landmine but the fear is about children. So we are trying to raise awareness so that whenever they come across any suspicious object they should report to the police or local leaders. Recently we had three that were discovered in our area and were detonated. People are really scared but we are assuring them that as long as they don’t attempt to detonate these things they will be safe,” said the acting Chief Mvuthu.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda confirmed the discovery of the landmines.

He implored members of the public to be wary of any suspicious objects.

“Our appeal to members of the public is that whenever they discover anything they know to be a landmine or anything they don’t know they should not attempt to detonate it. Children should be taught not to touch any suspicious objects,” he said. 

Source: Hwange villagers living in fear of landmines (24/02/2021)

Demining activities underfunded

Zimbabwe - The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence has urged the government to allocate more resources towards clearing landmines, which continue to pose a great risk to humans and livestock, particularly along border areas.

VENERANDA LANGA

The committee chairperson, Ronald Muderedzwa told the National Assembly on Tuesday that shortage of manpower and equipment in the Defence ministry hampered demining activities.“Other challenges experienced include insects, namely the morphine flies, which produce an irritating sound to the ear, thereby reducing the rate of concentration for the deminers.”

Muderedzwa said explosive remnants of the war occasionally injured people and animals, while also negatively affecting tourism.

The worst affected areas include Victoria Falls to Mlibizi, Mukumbura to Rwenya, Sheba Forest to Beacon Hill, Burma Valley, Rusitu to Muzite Mission, Sango Border Post to Crooks Corner and Border Streams.

The army demining squad was currently being assisted by organisations such as the Norwegian People’s Aid, the United States government and donations from other European countries.

The committee said the $100 000 allocated for the demining exercise each financial year was too little and could not sustain such an enormous programme.

“Government should engage the donor community to assist in the clearing of landmines, as a matter of urgency. Compensation for landmine victims should be honoured in terms of the War Victims Compensation Act. Ordinary civilians living in the border areas, where landmines were laid continue to bear the brunt of the war, long after the country was liberated,” Muderedzwa said.

Chiredzi South MP Callisto Gwanetsa (Zanu PF) said his constituency was one of the worst affected, citing Crooks Corner, which is a 53 kilometre-long minefield stretching to Sango Border Post.

“The area in my constituency affected by landmines is 40 000 hectares. You cannot farm, practice ranching or tourism. People are dying, and if they die or get injured in that area you cannot remove them. They rot there. If domestic animals stray into the area, they die there, he said.

Gwanetsa said more than 50 people in the constituency had been injured.

Buhera West MP Oliver Mandipaka (Zanu PF) suggested that MPs must contribute $100 each towards the demining exercise and to assist the victims.

Source: Demining activities underfunded (14/02/16)

Zim struggling to clear landmines 35 years after independence

Zimbabwe is still struggling to clear more than
40 000 hectares of communal and commercial land infested with landmines, more than 35 years after they were planted during the war of liberation, NewsDay has learnt.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Corps of Engineers Mkhululi Ncube told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs on Tuesday that about 5% of the mined area had potentially rich mineral resources.

The committee is currently touring areas infested with landmines such as Sengwe, Vhumba and Forbes Border Post in Mutare.

“Zimbabwe is State party to the Anti-Personnel Land Mine Ban Treaty which came into effect in 1999, which means we were supposed to have cleared all mines 10 years ago in 2009,” Ncube said.

“We have always asked for extension. Currently, we are on the third extension and we are working on the fourth extension where we are supposed to have resurveyed the mine areas that are contaminated and come up with a plan of how we intend to tackle the problem.”
Ncube said initially landmines in Zimbabwe covered 310,65 square kilometres which translated to 850km.

He said 220km had been cleared from Victoria Falls to Mlibizi, while 130km were cleared from Mukumbura to Rwenya Koch Mine. An estimated 50km from Sheba Forest and Beacon Hill and 4,1km in Burma Valley were also cleared as so where 75km from Rusitu to Muzite Mission.

Although the ZNA has worked around the clock to ensure people avoided landmine-infested areas, animals were still endangered.

“Since 2012 our records show that 18 people were killed by landmines and explosive remnants of war while 14 incurred injuries.
It is unfortunate that most of the incidents have been attributed to the speculation that red mercury is found in mines. Such beliefs are not true as there is no red mercury in mines, it is just a myth,” Ncube said.

He said uncleared landmines had severe impact on the lives of peasant farmers’ economic activities.

“There is land pressure on the areas adjacent to the minefields, and it is evident in areas like Mukumbura where cotton farming is prohibited due to the problem of landmines.

“Loss of livestock adds to the woes of the ordinary rural peasant, as well as lack to access to water and grazing land caused by minefields,” Ncube said.

He said landmines also negatively impacted on tourism as an estimated 5 000 hectares of land ideal for game in parts of Gonarezhou National Park was infested with landmines. This made tourism development impossible in a huge area of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

The cash-strapped government has allocated a paltry $500 000 towards landmines clearance resulting in the National Mine Action Authority of Zimbabwe relying on donor support. Ncube said in the absence of resources, it would take Zimbabwe 30 years to eliminate landmines, against a 2025 deadline for the complete elimination of mines.

Source: Zim struggling to clear landmines 35 years after independence (18/06/15)

26,000 landmines cleared in Zambezi Valley

 The Zimbabwean army and private companies have unearthed 26,000 landmines over the last 18 months, thereby freeing up a 20 km tract of land in Victoria Falls for tourism and other tracts in the Zambezi valley for resettlement, news reports said on Tuesday. The reports said the army has so far removed 6,000 landmines from Victoria Falls, while a private company, Koch Mine Safe had cleared 335 km of land in the Zambezi valley, leading to the release of prime land for resettlement. The mines, added the reports, were planted between 1976 and 1979 by the Rhodesian forces to stop liberation war fighters from crossing into the country from Zambia and Mozambique. The Zimbabwean army estimates that about two million landmines were planted on Zimbabwe's borders with South Africa and Mozambique.

Source: 26,000 landmines cleared in Zambezi Valley (18/04/2000)