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Killing for joy on Zimbabwe farms

SW Radio Africa's Hot Seat programme aired Tuesday night has revealed the murky world of 'kill for joy' foreign wildlife hunters flouting Zimbabwean laws and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) with the aid of top government officials and corrupt safari operators. This is a special report:

By Violet Gonda
Last updated: 02/08/2006 21:32:28

ZIMBABWE'S wildlife industry is a huge money spinner. Hunting alone brings in at least US$25 million annually.

But corrupt government officials are plundering the resource -- hunting any animal with no adherence to controls, even on endangered species.

This is happening in spite of Zimbabwe being a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in which the nations that are signatories agree to various prohibitions and restrictions in trade that are harmful to the interests of conservation.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to SW Radio Africa's Hot Seat programme, an expert in this area said members of President Robert Mugabe regime are taking advantage of a desperate and declining situation to enrich themselves.

They are using the environment of lawlessness and corruption to flout CITES and ignore the conservation laws of Zimbabwe.

Even though the US has imposed targeted sanctions, the regime is managing to beat the ban by using third parties of lesser prominence than Mugabe and his inner circle.

SW Radio's source fingered Ed Kadzombe, Chairman of the Wildlife Advisory Council and owner of EK Safaris, as one of those helping the dictatorship. He has representatives on the west coast in the US including a brother in California called Washington Kadzombe, who runs a micro finance scheme.

He is allegedly attached to a lawyer called Leo Grizzaffi of Torrance, California, who represents EK Safaris in the US. Grizzaffi is a powerful contact as he is said to be a member of the biggest pro-weapons lobby group in the US -- the National Rifle Association. The American has an open market in terms of recruiting hunters for Zimbabwe because of the numbers of hunters in this association.

The source said this clearly shows Kadzombe has an open playing field in terms of how and where he can hunt because of his position. Kadzombe has many associates in Zanu PF, including Jacob Mudenda, the former provincial chairman of Matabeleland North who was recently denied a visa to attend a high-profile safari trade fair in Nevada.

Other big names mentioned in the hunting scam are former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, former Tourism Minister Francis Nhema, Industry and Trade Minister Obert Mpofu, Zanu PF chairman John Nkomo and high ranking army officials like General Constantine Chiwenga and General Zvinavashe.

It is alleged that they invite hunters to Zimbabwe, especially from the USA. They then pay a sub-economic level of money to the local population where the animals are hunted and reap a huge amount of money themselves.

SW Radio Africa's source said some hunters in the US have no idea that they are being targeted by safari operators with links to the Mugabe regime. But the money they pay is invested into legitimate businesses in the USA or around the world and is effectively laundered. It’s then drip fed back into the pockets of the real handlers in Zimbabwe.

This money rarely finds its way to Zimbabwe as it is kept in private bank accounts around the world. It’s also difficult to trace because the accounts are kept in names of third parties.

The source also alleges that some externally based Zimbabweans who are selling fuel and groceries on websites, are part of the money laundering scheme.

He also said that in January alone, several Zimbabwean operators were able to sell their wares at two safari trade fairs that took place in Nevada and Dallas. The last show was last weekend in Dallas and those working as fronts for the regime apparently came out in full force.

Our source also alleges that some of the remaining white commercial farmers are also using hunting concessions and wildlife to buy political patronage, in a desperate bid to hold on to their farms.

It can cost a rich hunter at least US$15,000 to come to Zimbabwe for a hunt and each safari operator can bring between 10 to 15 hunters into the country during each hunting season. There are at least 18 hunting safari operators in Zimbabwe.

Environmentalists have warned that there is a bigger picture here as well. If hunting continues unchecked it can result in the complete loss of a natural resource that is the heritage of a country. When the political crisis is over it will be hard to encourage tourists to return if everything has been shot out and bio diversity has been destroyed.

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/hunting.13727.html

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