AFRICANEWS
ZimbabweThe untouchable Forest of Zimbabwe(912 Words) By Govero Cheshanga
Along the Pungwe river in the heart of the mountainous district of Nyanga in Zimbabwe�s Eastern Province of Manicaland lies a stretch of thick forest camouflaged with wreathes of cliff-base jungle endowed with natural beauty. The ten kilometre scenic jungle is known as Chirikuutsi (Shona word for being smoky or misty) situated on the border between the two districts of Nyanga and Mutasa in headman Sanyanga�s area, about 75 kms north of the Manicaland provincial capital of Mutare. Local people of the Manyika ethnic group in Mutasa and Nyanga believe their rain-making gods and ancestral spirits reside in this thick forest comprising three water pools and a gorge. They talk of siren-like sounds, cries of children and the mooing of cattle coming from the forest as a sign of human activities taking place in the Chirikuutsi forest but no-one should reach the place for it is sacred. Visitors to the area warned against making derogatory remarks or being disrespectful of the ancestral spirits while there because "the spirits and the rain-making god would lure such people into the forest�s depths and never to be seen again." Hundreds of people, mostly whites, are said to have disappeared in the forest. Two daughters of former Zimbabwe�s Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Tichaendepi Masaya are among the people who disappeared in the Chirikuutsi area in the early 1980�s. These traditional beliefs about the sacredness of Chirikuutsi are now threatening to derail the implementation of a ZD 600 million Pungwe project meant to provide water to Zimbabwe�s third largest city of Mutare with a population of over 150, 000 people. At a meeting held at Sanyanga gardens recently traditional leaders clashed with environmental scientists who had requested them to perform a ritual ceremony to enable them enter Chirikuutsi forest to carry out a detailed environmental impact assessment study for the Pungwe project. In terms of the 1995 contract signed between the Zimbabwean government and external financiers, who provided 60 percent of the funds for the project, environmental impact assessment study is to be undertaken to ensure the implementation process of the project is environmentally friendly. But the study has hit a snag as the traditional leaders� refused to cooperate casts doubts on the future financial support to the project by external financiers who provided ZD 470 Million for this project considered to be the lasting solution to the city of Mutare�s perennial water woes. The project involves the drilling of a 4.3 kilometres tunnel which would draw water from the Pungwe river, two kilometres up from the Chirikuutsi forest, into a 46 km subterranean pipeline to Odzani water treatment works for Mutare�s domestic and industrial needs. A university of Zimbabwe lecturer in the department of biological sciences Dr. Ngoni Moyo begged traditional leaders to let his team carry out the study in the forest. As part of the detailed environmental impact study, the scientists want study to the possible impact, to the living and non-living organisms in the tiny Chirikuutsi area, if water is to be drawn from the upper part of the Pungwe river. "If we don�t carry out studies in the gorge our report on the (Pungwe) project would have major inadequacies," lamented Dr. Moyo. Mutasa and Nyanga traditional leaders do not trust the scientists whom they suspect were up to investigate the perceived sacredness of Chirikuutsi. "There are some secrets at Chirikuutsi which we can�t divulge to anyone. It is our shrine and it is a sacred place. Please, stay away from it," acting chief Bernabas Chimbadzwa Mutasa, told the scientists at the meeting. Dr. Moyo maintained his argument that the study should be carried out saying this would minimise adverse effects to the environment within the Chirikuutsi area. The failure to carry out the study in the gorge and the pools was not only in breach of the terms of the funding with local and external financiers but could result in the destruction of both traditional cultural and scientific values of Chirikuutsi in future. Before work on the Pungwe project started in early 1997 two ritual ceremonies were performed in the Mutasa district in 1996 to appease the spirits of the Manyika people under both chief Mutasa and Tangwena. "But to come to us for a permission to enter a sacred place, probe our gods and disturb the spirits of our ancestors amount to insulting our intelligence," complained acting Chief Mutasa. Jan Olsson, a Counsellor at the Swedish Embassy in Harare, whose country provided part of the ZD 47 Million external funds for the project said: "the Pungwe project is a Zimbabwean project and we support it in that context." But other external financiers are concerned that if the detailed environmental impact assessment study was not carried out in the Chirikuutsi forest the multi-million dollar Pungwe water project could be jeopardised. Although scientists do not agree with the traditional leaders on the sacredness of Chirikuutsi they fear going against the advise of the elders could result in very serious consequences such as death or disappearance of some of them. The managing director of an environmental consultancy firm, Inter-Consult, Leonard Magara, said African environmental planners should respect traditional cultural norms and beliefs. His sentiments were echoed by Mutare�s Executive Mayor, Lawrence Mudehwe, who said environmental scientists should try to find out another way of achieving what they want without causing unnecessary confrontation with traditional leaders over Chirikuutsi. "We need water for Mutare and let this problem not hinder the project�s implementation," he said.
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