Just taken of my Huntnetwork.net Newsletter

ALMOST a tonne of elephant tusks and rhino horns were impounded by police in Chiredzi on Saturday night as the van taking the loot to Buffalo Range aerodrome overturned, spilling its contents after hitting a stray donkey as it entered the farming town.

The two men who were in the car, are in Chiredzi Hospital under police guard. The pair, employees of HKK Safaris, jointly owned by Charles Davy, Britain's Prince Harry's girlfriend, Chelsy's father, and policy implementation minister Webster Shamu, implicated a South African national of British descent, a Gerrard Harvey, who was in the country for a week last month. He is now believed to be back in South Africa, awaiting his cargo.

Gerrard Harvey is a member of a highly-organised syndicate that smuggles ivory to South Africa where it is then shipped to the Far East. The ivory is used for dagger handles and as an aphrodisiac.

A Cesna 172 four-seater aircraft meant to fly the loot was also impounded at Buffalo Range aerodrome at the weekend. The pilot of the plane is under police custody. ZimDaily could not, at the weekend, establish the owner of the light aircraft.

Shamu has been fingered as the brains behind the dwindling black rhino in Hwange area. National Parks chief, Morris Mtsambiwa, early this year wrote a confidential report, widely circulated in the establishment, accusing Shamu and his partner Davy, through ther HKK Safaris of engaging in systematic poaching of black rhinos for their horns.

"More than 3 000 black rhinos were in conservancies controlled by HKK Safaris in December 2004. There were less than 1 500 left as of January
5 this year," he said. "HKK Safaris, which controls the conservancies, has not been able to give a plausible explanation."

However, no action was taken by the authorities against Shamu. Instead, police officers who tried to investigate him found themselves receiving transfer letters sending them to faraway places such as Mwenezi.

Shamu, once described by a Bulawayo-based economist as "an absolute hood", is an unpredictable character, well-known for instilling fear in his opponents. The policy implementation minister was notorious for swindling businessmen, mainly Asians during Rhodesia.

That prompted him to flee in 1974 to the then Zaire, ostensibly to watch the Muhamad Ali-George Foreman bout. He then joined the independence war, during which he led ZANU PF broadcasts from Maputo. He returned home in 1979 inder a new name, Charles Ndhlovu.

In 1989, he was in the courts facing 99 counts of fraud but the then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe's interference with the judiciary saw him escaping the hook.

The only censure he got was losing his cabinet position. He kept the name Charles Ndhlovu until when it was impossible for anybody to bring up any charges against him. It was not long before Ndhlovu, who had now assumed his original name, Webster Shamu, was plucked from political obscurity. In 2002, he landed policy implementation portfolio.

In 2004, government announced it was investigating Davy, Shamu's business partner, for illegal currency dealings, after revelations by an undercover British journalist that money generated from the hunting business was being kept out of the country.

The journalist, Caroline Graham, from United Kingdom's Mail on Sunday, witnessed endangered species of animals, among the black rhinos, being killed barbarically for their horns.

Following the revelations, Davy immediately "sold" his holding in HKK Safaris but insiders say it was a ruse to put Zimbabwean authorities off his tracks. HKK charges mostly American clients US$30 000 for a 24-day shooting expedition and according to the Mail journalist, "all the money is kept offshore."

Ade Langley, a professional hunter then working for HHK, was quoted as saying: "Less than 20 percent of your dollars will ever enter Zimbabwe. All the money is kept offshore."

That prompted the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe-led smokescreen investigations. Nothing came out of that. In the meantime, poaching is continuing unabated as most conservancies are now under the direct control of Mugabe's cronies in ZANU PF and government after the ageing Zimbabwean strongman’s chaotic land grab that dispossessed almost 5 000 white farmers and businessman of their land and properties.

Police in Chiredzi confirmed they impounded the ivory and the plane and that "two men were helping them with their investigations".

However, Shamu switched off his mobile when contacted by ZimDaily about the matter.

This isn't the first time I've read about such going's on. I wonder if any of our Zim friends can shed any light on this?

Old news. And inaccurate as usual.

They recently arrested an asian man here in the Western U.S. who had, in his possession, black rhino horn.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Old news. And inaccurate as usual.

Will

Why do you say this? It has been an open secret for years that HHK was up to their ears in profiteering off the land seizures and other illegal acts in Zim.

Just because they give an honest hunt for the dollar doesn't make them 'Good Guys'.

Even Al Capone gave good Canadian Whiskey for a dime.

It amazes me to what lengths posters here will go to defend a favorite PH or Company because they got a good hunt. It's similar to residents of some Ghetto defending the local Drug Lord because he buys basketballs for the playground.

I want to see them put 1 ton of anything in a 172!

Gator1

Exactly how has HHK profited off of the land seizures? They lost several ranches that they hunted because they were taken over by the war vets. I believe Will was a victim of one of those takeovers. Currently all of their hunting is on Tribal Communal Lands or National Parks concessions.

465H&H

Kathi posted this a week earlier and I responded in detail

But Briefly

Charlie Davey sold his shares in HHK to Anthoney Crick more than 18 months ago. Graham Hingestone and Anthoney lost their own farms.

None of the HHK concession areas with the exception of Lemco conservancy have any rhino. Lemco hasn't lost any rhino. They are being mainly poached from the occupied conservancies and national parks.

Charlie Davey is still a shareholder in Lemco conservancy. The conservancy leases the hunting to HHK - at the moment.

Charlie Davies Hunting company is Mazungu.

none of the areas hunted by Mazungu have any rhino either!

Whole report is BS

If this has been posted already I apologise, on investigations with police and Parks the whole story turned out to be a fabrication, not one ounce of truth. Just politics at play once again, the gentlemen mentioned are looking at taking legal action.

Glad to hear it's a fabrication. I didn't make sense when it was said that a 172 was to be used to fly the ton of ivory and horn to RSA.

Let's not forget that the UK is no longer on Mugabe's Christmas card list. It would not surprise me if the entire matter was a fabrication made up in order to discredit the British Royal Family. For one thing, as tradewinds pointed out, there is no way a 172 could carry 2000 pounds - it's max payload is around 900 pounds, which includes fuel and passengers. Take away 400 pounds for fuel and a pilot, and you are down to 500 pounds of cargo.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Kathi posted this a week earlier and I responded in detail

Has anyone got this reference? I looked for it but couldn't find it.

It's hard to figure out how to load a ton of ivory on a C-172 without being way out the back on CG as well as, as noted above, being rather grossly overweight. I suspect the plane might take on aspects of a tail dragger without benefit of a tail wheel.