Insuza Villagers Are Being Terrorized and Dehumanized

prior to elections, government food aid was handed out
as if it were sourced and organised by the ruling party –
as if it belonged to the party, even now the villagers can recall.

but now — villagers, some as old as ninety years old – are crying foul,
are losing sleep, losing their farming fields to bullying and ‘faceless’ invaders
who claim to belong to the ruling party, who have the nerve to do all that

ordinarily and historically, the traditional leaders are the custodians
of the land, and nobody could just occupy it without their consent or knowledge,
however, this regime has politicized their roles, and rendered them partisan and unhelpful

the chiefs have been pampered with cars, some of them have gone to the extent
of declaring that they are no longer accountable to their people but to the president
soulless, they have abdicated their traditional duties and roles for sycophancy, gold and silver.

the terrifying criminals are usurping the local people’s lands
in the name of belonging to the ruling party beyond the noses of the police
and traditional leaders, and the villagers are furious, frustrated and helpless

the law enforcement officers’ hands are tied, they ‘cannot’ arrest them
the felonious aggressors and land usurpers seem to be untouchable
they are brazen, brutal and insolent, they are law unto themselves

the villagers are being dispossessed of their ancestral lands
they are stranded, they seek international intervention and assistance
for the government-backed invaders are running roughshod over them

they are brutalizing the old villagers, chasing away the vocal local youth
it doesn’t look good; the stunned villagers are being pushed to the edge
it smacks of dirty politics of greed and bigotry, it smacks of gukurahundi