Elephants cause destruction in Sinazongwe

Elephants have destroyed fields, demolished houses, restricted people’s freedom of movement, and have caused a drastic drop in the number of pupils attending classes in Sinazongwe district in Southern Province.

Acting Senior Chief Mweemba Ephraim Siatambika, the headmen, and teachers have since appealed to government to kill the two animals as the Zambia Wild Life Authority’s (ZAWA) effort to chase them have failed for the past nine months.
Mr Siatambika said at a meeting when he addressed his affected subjects in the presence of a ZAWA officer in Siansowa area that the elephants have continued to destroy people’s fields which are the source of their livelihood as they have no other means of feeding their families.

He said most people in Siansowa area have failed cultivate their crops because each time they wanted to till their land the animals have been coming to disturb them.

The Acting Chief disclosed that 23 households have been affected and about ten hectors of maize fields have been destroyed.
He also appealed to Disaster Management and the Mitigation Unit under the office of Vice President to assist the affected families with relief food before they die of starvation.

Mr Siatambika noted that two Schools have been affected in his Chiefdom, Kariba South Basic School and Siansowa middle Basic School.
Kariba South Basic School Head teacher Jolezya Mweetwa told the meeting that the attendance of the pupils at the two Schools have been affected for the past nine months since the two elephants landed in Mwemba area from Lake Kariba Islands .
He said the attendance of pupils at the two Schools has reduced from 100 percent to 45 percent and most them have been failing to write the end of term examinations.

Mr Mweetwa said despite his School being electrified by government last year pupils have been shunning to come for studies at night for fear of being trampled on by the elephants.

One of the participants at the meeting Maureen Sinalubilo said the elephants have caused misery among families and they should be killed or chased away in a game reserve.

“We do not even want to taste it’s the meat when they killed we have suffered enough and our fields have been destroyed,” Mrs Sinalubila bemoaned.

Maxwell Siangwalamu told ZANIS that his house was demolished around 23 hours while he was sleeping together with her wife Beatrice Siangwalamu but managed to escape unhurt.

He said it was better for the elephants to be killed before a human being is killed.