In an article in The Chronicle today Kasukuwere said: “He used to kill our people during the war … now we are saying to him shut up, we’re now fed up with you.”
Rodrigues has been campaigning against the government’s decision to export baby elephants to China, France and the United Arab Emirates. “If I don't shut up, will I disappear like the journalist Itai Dzamara?” asked Rodrigues in response to the article.
He believes that bBy keeping the elephants in Zimbabwe where they belong, there are many advantages:
It creates employment
Keeps the hotels, safari parks, taxis etc running.
Enables the locals to sell their curios
The locals can become shareholders of the wildlife areas and earn commissions from tourism
Kasukuwere insists that Hwange is carrying far more elephants than it has capacity to do, but Rodrigues queries his figures. “Does the minister know how many animals there are in Zimbabwe because every time the population figures are quoted, they are different? Can he supply the audited figures of all the wildlife in Zimbabwe?” he said.
Post published in: News