Nkayi villagers in Ward 5 under Chief Madliwa have called for the use of technology to trace owners of stray cattle before the animals are auctioned, amid concerns that some could be stolen livestock from neighbouring districts.
The villagers said livestock theft was a major concern, with suspected thieves allegedly moving cattle from areas such as Gokwe before abandoning the animals when they failed to escape with them.
They want authorities to make greater use of livestock identification systems and other technology to trace the owners before the cattle are sold.
“The challenge that we have in our community are livestock thieves, they go to steal livestock from the nearby Districts especially Gokwe, when they get here sometimes, they manage to escape and they become stray cattle,” a Ward 5 villager said.
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“So our plea is that instead of having these livestock auctioned, they should be profiled, use technology in 2026 to look for the owners, use technology to fight stock theft crime.”
The villagers said the distance between Nkayi and neighbouring districts made it difficult for owners to recover their livestock, particularly when animals had allegedly been moved by suspected thieves.
“The distance between here and Gokwe is very big, one cannot travel on foot looking for their livestock as thieves would have transported the livestock to Nkayi. Authorities are not helping anyone to find their livestock instead they are auctioning,” the villager said.
They called for the bylaws governing stray livestock to be reviewed to require authorities to make greater efforts to identify owners before animals are auctioned.
“We need these bylaws changed so that they can use technology to find owners before they are auctioned,” the villager said.
The villagers also said some cattle could become stray after wandering away from their new owners and attempting to return to their original areas.
“At times these stray cattle will be just a cattle recently bought by a villager and they get lost as they try to find their way where they originally came from and they join some herds becoming stray cattle,” the villager said.
“As communities we do not agree with this auction, let us use technology to look for livestock as communities instead of auctioning the stolen livestock.”
However, Ward 5 councillor Clement Mpofu said the handling of stray cattle was an established process and disputed the villagers’ concerns.
“This is not a new issue to communities. I am sure the people who are raising this issue are people who don’t follow community programs but they just complain,” Mpofu said.
He said people who kept stray cattle were compensated and that proceeds from the sale of the animals were shared among the authorities involved.
“There is money given to a person who was keeping the stray cattle. This money doesn’t go to council only, even the police have the share as well,” Mpofu said.
He said the cattle were also sold to local villagers.
“Also these stray cattle are being sold to the villagers,” he said.
Mpofu said the local authority did not have livestock-tracking equipment and that livestock owners were responsible for identifying their animals.
“As Nkayi we don’t have trackers and that duty is for the livestock owner to put trackers on their livestock, ear tags etc,” Mpofu said.
“Its easier to look for owners when there is a tag.”
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