Zim minister in illegal hunting scandal

[dArKeR]

Zimbabwe's Information Minister -- Jonathan Moyo, who has closed down three newspapers and ordered the arrest of more than 75 journalists -- has been accused of seizing a renowned wildlife sanctuary and turning it into a "slaughterhouse".

The architect of President Robert Mugabe's state propaganda machine used armed gangs to take over the Sikumi Tree Lodge in Matabeleland a year ago, claims owner Thys de Vries, who is challenging the seizure and others by Cabinet ministers and the ruling Zanu-PF party's elite in court.

Conservationists say Moyo has turned the safari area, which borders the Hwange National Park, over to South African hunters who are paying to mow down wildlife.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120840&t=1