Binga man loses 26 beasts to drought

Lackson Munkombwe
BINGA villagers have lost hundreds of their cattle to drought with one villager losing 26 beasts.
Matabeleland North is slowing succumbing to effects of drought which have also ravaged Matabeleland South.
Councillor for Lubu, Ward 11 in Binga, Mr Mackson Mudimba revealed that Mr Pyson Mudenda of Mansenya Village had to date lost 26 cattle since October.

“Mudenda has so far lost 26 cows due to drought which has hit our area so hard,” said Clr Mudimba.
“We started receiving the information of cattle dying everywhere in the surrounding areas in October but it was alarming that Mudenda started losing his livestock on weekly bases.”

Clr Mudimba said the problem emanated after rivers had dried up as intense high temperatures in the region worsened the situation.

“We believe the shortage of water and high temperatures were major factors leading to deaths of these animals,” said Clr Mudimba.

“Livestock from areas with no water are the most affected at the moment. We are still experiencing more numbers of cattle dying every day. Carcasses are scattered all over the places.”

Clr Mudimba revealed that there were more people who like Mr Mudenda lost their livestock in large numbers.
These include Mr Joshua Mudenda who lost 21 beasts, Mr Nyson Mwembe of Makamba Village who lost 12 and Johanisi Munenge of Siavwala Village who had a total of eight cows but lost seven.

“To make matters worse, cows have no water to drink such that owners are now fetching water for cattle to drink, which is very difficult to manage especially in areas where there are few or no boreholes at all against a population of about 3 000 cattle in the area. People have also resorted to feeding their cattle in the pens as there is entirely no grass for grazing,” said Clr Mudimba.

“We’re really pleading with the Government to come to our rescue because livestock is the main source of our livelihoods. We’re trying by all means to save our livestock but it’s difficult. We are also requesting for the construction of dams so that at least we have more water settling in the area for a long time.”

He said a dam would go a long way as people are struggling to get enough clean water for domestic use.
Matabeleland South province has reportedly lost more than 350 beasts due to drought.