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Leonard Ncube
DESPITE deterrent sentences which attract a mandatory nine-year sentence for each stolen beast, cases of livestock rustling have been on the increase. Farmers, both communal and commercial should embrace livestock branding as a positive step towards putting an end to stock theft.
Police are on a nationwide campaign code-named cattle model village branding, to conscientise farmers about the importance of putting personal marks or brands on their livestock.
Branding, also known as umtshiso, is a process whereby farmers get a unique mark for their herd from the Registrar General’s Office as a way of reducing stock theft.
Farmers would no longer cut their cattle’s ears as brand marks and this would also put a stop to government and local authorities auctioning stray animals.
The exercise involves using an iron that is heated on fire and pressed on an animal’s skin to put a permanent identifying mark.
Each farmer would have his or her own brand sign, which would be fed onto a national database, complete with the farmer’s national identity details.
An official from the Registrar’s Office, Rangarirayi Masunda said the brands are accessible in most parts of the country as the system is computerised.
“Each farmer would have his or her own brand mark which will be attached to his national identity number and entered into a computer. Whenever details are entered, the system will automatically show the owner’s personal information including voters’ details,” said Masunda while addressing communal farmers at the launch of the programme in Jambezi.
Speaking at the same event, Officer Commanding Victoria Falls District, Chief Superintendent Jairos Chiwona, who presided over the district launch, said police were committed to safeguarding growth of the national herd.
“The launch of this programme is a clear testimony of the ZRP commitment to enhancing growth of the national herd. Livestock is a pillar of wealth representing the immeasurable value of livestock in our society. At household level ZRP has initiated the cattle branding model villages’ programme which profoundly emphasises on assisting both commercial and communal farmers in acquiring brand certificates and brand irons,” said Chief Supt Chiwona.
He said the aim of the programme was to strengthen the protection of the national herd.
Chief Supt Chiwona said police still had a mammoth task since cases of stock theft were still prevalent despite efforts to protect the national herd.
“About 100 head of cattle were stolen between January 2009 and December 2013. Of these, only 59 were recovered,” said Chief Supt Chiwona.
From January this year, only two beasts were reported stolen and this decline is a result of police border deployments and other campaigns. Police have also been encouraging communities not to let their livestock stray onto highways as that exposes them to thieves.
Although Chief Supt Chiwona said stock theft cases had significantly decreased in his area in the last four years due to police interventions, he said there was still a lot of work to be done by police and communities.
“The aim of this exercise is to strengthen protection of livestock and calls for active participation by everyone,” he said.
Chief Shana, also at the same occasion, urged his subjects to take the branding exercise seriously to reduce loss of cattle due to theft.
“We welcome this noble cause, let’s all embrace it. We’ve lost a number of cattle, some to our neighbours across the border but with branding it will be easy to trace them even to butcheries,” he said.
Police have also appealed to villagers in Jambezi not to help foreigners illegally cross into the country through undesignated areas such as Chisuma area.
There have been concerns those illegal immigrants especially from Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo and others have been crossing the Zambezi River through Chisuma area making Jambezi their corridor to their different destinations, allegedly with the aid of some community members for a fee.
Some of these illegal immigrants are poachers, while others are stock thieves who drive cattle across the Zambezi River.
“I’d like to warn you against illegal immigrants whom you are letting into your land. Somalians are illegally crossing into our land through undesignated crossing points and I’d like to believe that some of us here are helping these foreigners,” said Chief Supt Chiwona.
He added: “Illegal entries are weakening the security of our land and one day we will surely wake up without land. The national herd that we are eager to safeguard by this exercise is at risk from these people.”
There are reports that suspected Zambians would steal cattle and drive them across the Zambezi River via Chisuma, the same area that made headlines last year when villagers would illegally smuggle inputs they received from the Presidential Input Scheme and sell them in Zambia.
Chief Shana urged his subjects to report any suspicious strangers.
“It has been mentioned that our land has become an illegal crossing point for strangers, who are showing them the way. Let us report these anomalies,” he said.
Online Reporter