The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
My lifetime's work stolen from me'
I SIT and watch helplessly as my lifetime's work is stolen from me.
It matters not that I am
an African, that my family has lived in Africa for over 200 years, that I am
supposed to rely on the state to protect my human rights: rights to life,
liberty, and security of person; to freedom from arbitrary arrest; to a fair
trial; to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; to freedom from interference
with privacy of one's home and correspondence; to freedom of movement and
residence; to asylum, nationality and ownership of property; to freedom of
thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression; to association, peaceful
assembly and participation in government; to social security, work, rest, and a
standard of living adequate for health and well-being; to education; and to
participation in the social life of one's community.
It matters not that I have been abducted, beaten, put in jail, harassed and
threatened.
It matters not that I went to court and obtained a High Court Order
nullifying my Section 5 and Section 8 orders - which were to allow the
government to take away my farm as well as my movable equipment with payment for
the "improvements" only at some future date - on Erewhon farm in Raffingora, on
July 3.
Minister Ignatius Chombo has issued an instruction allowing his Zanu PF
supporters to move onto my farm in defiance of the very laws we elected him to
uphold. That instruction has given the people the impression that they can just
take anything they like.
My home on Erewhon was broken into recently and the thieves, for that is what
they are, sat and drank anything they could find in the house before looting my
possessions as well as taking keys to my sheds, office and motor vehicle. They
were surprised by my manager arriving home and, to their credit, ran off into
the dark leaving behind many things they had not had time to collect.
You see, when a man who is given the task of caring for our people believes
he is above the law and issues instructions which are clearly illegal, he allows
law and order to break down. We then lose whatever human rights we think we are
entitled to and have to face the consequences of that lawlessness.
When lawlessness is rewarded in the manner in which Chombo has done by giving
a Mr Matafara, the local Zanu PF district chairman, a plot on my irrigation
farm, Nswala, for dislodging me from my home, then the saga will continue.
Chombo believes that I should not have any farms, let alone two which I worked
for and bought over the last 10 years.
And my sin? I am white, yes, but I am perceived to be a member of the
Movement of Democratic Change, and I constantly stand up against him for abusing
the rights of the people who live and work around me.
So now that the A2 settlers allocated my two farms, despite the fact that
they do not have Section 8s transferring ownership to the state, have not come
forward to take up their plots as allocated to them under minister Joseph Made's
fast-track resettlement programme, Chombo has told his underlings to arbitrarily
get people to settle on my farms to make me leave.
How many more senior Zanu PF people will be allocated a piece of land for
favours done for Chombo, not only on my farm but on other farms in the same
district as well as the rest of Zimbabwe?
We are watching the unfolding of a horrific scenario. Yes, the commercial
farmers were perceived to be wealthy. But what Chombo is now doing with the
support of his colleagues in the politburo and Made and Phillip Chiyangwa in
particular in this area is this:
The wealth which the commercial farmers held and invested in productive
capital, ie seed, fertiliser, chemicals, labour, etc, is being taken away and
given to a select few government supporters who are in turn, investing it in
consumable capital: Mercedes Benzes, 4x4 vehicles, BMWs, $600 million homes, and
that is fine in the short-term but soon these items, which do not generate
further capital, will be used up and the nation will starve.
And then the peasants, who have diligently worked for their Zanu PF masters,
will no longer get the money or promises they are being given now by Chombo.
And the staff on Erewhon and Nswala who have so diligently worked to keep
their homes, jobs, clinics, children's schooling, will just be dispensable as
the minister uses people to achieve his goal of removing all opposition. And our
nation will starve.
I wonder if Chombo cares?
Jean Simon,
Raffingora.
COMMERCIAL FARMERS'
UNION
Farm Invasions And Security
Report
Friday 09 August
2002
This report does not purport to
cover all the incidents that are taking place in the commercial farming areas.
Communication problems and the fear of reprisals prevent farmers from reporting
all that happens. Farmers names, and in some cases farm names, are omitted to
minimise the risk of reprisals.
NATIONAL REPORT IN
BRIEF
· Norton - On Bryn Farm the owner had to move out
of his homestead and is now homeless. He had three farms, two of which he
offered to Government but Josiah Hungwe, the Governor for Masvingo has now taken
over his last farm and home.
· Mwenezi Area – at Valley Ranch, a serious
situation is starting to develop on this property. It is inundated by settlers
and communal cattle originating from Malapati. To worsen the situation World
Vision (NGO) using a white Nissan Double Cab Registration Number 727-799K is
carting settlers to the property and driving around on the property checking up
on communal cattle
· In the Banket/Trelawney/Darwendale areas the
continuous theft is horrific and what we hear about is probably the tip of the
iceberg.
· Norton - On Idaho, the ZANU (PF) chairlady for
legal affairs and women’s rights, and ex M.P, Mavis Chidzonga, continues to
create problems. She is presently trying to evict the storekeeper.
· Chakari - On Tawstock, M.P Ziyambi, who has
been living in the owner’s guest cottage in his garden for about 6 months, is
now trying to evict the 90 households that live in the farm village. It is the
owners only home and farm, and most of the farm workers have known no other
homes apart from on the farm.
REGIONAL NEWS
MANICALAND
No report
received.
MASHONALAND
CENTRAL
No report
received.
MASHONALAND EAST
No report
received.
MASHONALAND WEST
(NORTH)
Doma - at Nirvana Farm the farmer is not
allowed to move his property off the farm. ZRP informed. At Hundred Ends Farm an A2 settler would not
allow the workers, (who wished to reap coffee), to work. The A2 settler locked
the gate and would not allow reaping the coffee to continue. Further to the
hi-jacking of the white Volvo Fl6 truck with 84 bales on board, opinion is it
was either hi-jacked for the cargo of flue-cured tobacco or for the truck
belonging to Northern Hauliers No. 599-860W.
It is reported the truck stopped at the Little England turnoff and was
parked in the nearby lay-by. There was a female accomplice with the driver and
when the vehicle was hi-jacked it was taken down the Darwendale Road and the
Police picked up the driver by the Zipan turn off. The physical characteristics of the tobacco
are open grained, long leaf irrigated tobacco in 84 bales marked 1032 on the
paper and on the hessian. The truck
would have had a range of 450 km with the fuel in it and would have done 200
km. To sell the cargo all the paper marks would have to be torn off and all the
hessian changed with the individual bale tickets. Our roads are obviously patrolled at night by
vehicle pirates. The anti hi-jack trust is at hijack@mweb.co.zw.
Trelawney
- an accused was handed over to Banket Police for the theft of 10 kg of tobacco
from the barns.
In the
Banket/Trelawney/Darwendale areas the continuous theft is horrific and what we
hear about is probably the tip of the iceberg.
At Trelawney Sports Club, a handbag with I.D.'s, cash, chequebook etc.
stolen from the squash court. Mtotwe
Farm suffered theft of hosepipe, irrigation taps and fittings. Gwina Farm reports stolen 78 irrigation
sprinklers valued at $585 000 from the wheat field. Elinda Farm had 27 sprinklers valued at $500
000 stolen from the seedbed site.
Firhill Farm had football boots and cassettes valued at $7760 stolen from
the farm village. Stolen from Squatodzi
Farm was the TV, decoder, satellite dish, VCR plus blankets, towels and hats
valued at $392 000 in a housebreak-in, as well as irrigation taps. The Fazanzi Farm electrician was in
possession of 9 MCB's. At Dieu Donne Farm 21 MCB's were stolen valued at $230
000. 20 litres of herbicide was stolen
from the chemical store at Bessville Grange Farm. At Gretton Farm an animal was slaughtered.
The Head and skin was recovered and two accused were picked up. Another decoder was stolen from near
Mazvikadei area and was found when the thief absconded 40 km away. At Mvebi an electric cable was stolen from
the pivot in the field. Zivoto Farm
reports stolen hydrant taps and window handles from the main house. At Cango Farm 10 tobacco flue pipes were
stolen valued at $100000 from the barns.
Finally, on 26.07.02 Agritex arrived to re-demarcate a farm into 100 ha
'farms'. All existing pegs are null and void and they left the owner with 350 ha
gross (147 of which is arable). They returned on 29.07.02 to actually start
marking and tell the owner he will not be getting the 350 ha originally stated
because he has not applied for any land.
MASHONALAND WEST
(SOUTH)
Norton - On Bryn Farm the owner had to move
out of his homestead and is now homeless. He had three farms, two of which he
offered to Government but Josiah Hungwe, the Governor for Masvingo has now taken
over his last farm and home. The owner of Rock Farm was beaten up with sticks
by settlers. On another day he was abducted and taken to ZANU (PF) headquarters
in Harare and spent six hours in the custody of the settlers. On Kilvington
Farm the seedbed site has been trashed five times, and the owner is not allowed
to plant anything despite it being his only farm. On Idaho the ZANU (PF)
chairlady for legal affairs and women’s rights, and ex M.P, Mavis Chidzonga,
continues to create problems. She is presently trying to evict the storekeeper
and has also removed 3.6 kilometres of fencing wire from the fences, and is
wanting to move into the owners house despite it being the owners only home and
farm.
Kadoma -
On Ardconnel A2 settlers stole the gate to the electric security fence. They
then set the haystack alight in the owner’s garden that was being kept for the
few remaining cattle. Fires were lit all around the house during the night and
the fruit trees burnt. Letters were then left saying the owners would be
beheaded if they did not vacate their home within the next 48 hours. Another
letter said they would do "the same as Bin Laden". The farm is unlisted and is
the owners’ only farm. Under the circumstances they have had to move out.
Police response was abysmal.
Battlefields - On Umsweswe River Block 8A the
cold room was vandalised and the stable roofs removed. The owner’s father was
held hostage whilst removing household effects from the home and was only
released when he handed the keys to the home over to the settlers. The settlers
have stolen all interior doors. Police have not assisted. On Railway Farm 5,
300 Guinea Fowl were poisoned by the settlers, and the owners told to get off
the farm by 10.08.02 August despite it being their only farm and despite them
having permission from the Governor to continue their winter cereal
crop.
Chakari -
On Victory Farm the owners were evicted despite it being their only home, and
settler Gondo moved into their home before they even managed to get all their
belongings out. On Tawstock M.P Ziyambi, who has been living in the owner’s
guest cottage in his garden for about 6 months, is now trying to evict the 90
households that live in the farm village. It is the owners only home and farm,
and most of the farm workers have known no other homes apart from on the farm.
MASVINGO
Masvingo East and Central -
Nothing to report.
Chiredzi
- Ongoing poaching and snaring.
Gutu /
Chatsworth – the Bath Farm owner returned home from town late evening on
02.08.02 and was stopped just outside his homestead by a ZFTU Official who has
been demanding exceedingly high labour wages from the owner. The owner said the
bank would not allow him to withdraw any more money, which the ZFTU Official
refused to believe and continued to harass him by refusing to move away from the
front of the vehicle. He threatened to return the following day and after a
lengthy period the situation was resolved.
Mwenezi
Area – at Valley Ranch, a serious situation is starting to develop on this
property. It is inundated by settlers and communal cattle originating from
Malapati. To worsen the situation World Vision (NGO) using a white Nissan Double
Cab Registration Number 727-799K is carting settlers to the property and driving
around on the property checking up on communal cattle. It has now also been
established that World Vision has also moved cattle on to the property. At Marcon Ranch, two A2 settlers, being
Mutendi Brothers from Nyika Growth point, arrived driving a 7 tonne Scania Truck
loaded up with some cement. They indicated to the owner that they have been
allocated plots on the property. They were also seen driving a pickup and were
armed with a 303 rifle. Vehicle tracks were seen on the top section of the farm
indicating that they were driving around on the lookout for game. Battlefields Ranch reports another Impala and
one dairy heifer caught in snares. Owner reports extensive poaching on the
property.
Save
Conservancy - Ongoing poaching and snaring.
MIDLANDS
No report
received.
MATABELELAND
No report
received.
aisd1@cfu.co.zw
Visit the CFU Website www.mweb.co.zw/cfu
CIO boss moved
Barnabas Thondhlana
ZIMBABWE'S top spy, Brigadier Elisha Muzonzini, has been relieved of his duties as head of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to take up a diplomatic posting in Kenya, the Zimbabwe Independent understands.
Other new diplomatic
appointments include telecoms boss and former Zanu PF Harare province official
Chris Mutsvangwa.
Muzonzini fills a post left vacant in Nairobi after the departure of
Ambassador Bozwani Mothobi who earlier this year joined the Department of
National Parks as board chairman. The mission is being run by a chargé
d'affaires.
Civil society critics say Muzonzini, who has been at the helm of the CIO for
the past three years, has during his tenure effectively turned the
once-professional organisation into an agency of the ruling party. They claim
the CIO - like other government departments - has become identified with Zanu
PF's repressive rule.
Ruling party sources said Muzonzini's departure could be designed to dilute
the power base of former military supremo Solomon Mujuru, who is credited with
recommending Muzonzini and his deputy Happyton Bonyongo to President Robert
Mugabe for appointment to the helm of the CIO.
Mujuru, long seen as a quiet power broker, has reportedly influenced the
appointment of military men to nearly all significant national institutions,
thus paving the way for what analysts say is his final card, the presidency.
While parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa's name has been mentioned as a
possible candidate for the presidency, new aspirants are slowly coming out of
the woodwork. Mujuru, who has the support and respect of the military, is being
named alongside outsiders such as Simba Makoni and Sydney Sekeramayi.
Other party insiders however said Mujuru had no presidential ambitions.
The Independent has been told that Muzonzini is part of a contingent of new
diplomats who will be replacing "tired" and politically unattuned incumbents at
foreign missions, some of whom have been on foreign duty for more than 15 years
and are seen as not combative enough to sell Mugabe's controversial land reform
programme.
"Government and the party have seen it fit to replace some of these
diplomats, some of whom have totally lost touch with developments back home and
the prevailing thinking," said a government source.
"We have had instances where a Zimbabwe diplomat first apologises to his host
country for successful developments like the land reform programme, only to then
seek direction after the event. Such people are no longer useful in the new
Zimbabwe."
Among the new recruits will be Isaac Nyathi, a former diplomat and MP for
Lobengula/Magwegwe and business-man-turned politician Mutsvangwa who is
reportedly headed east. The Independent could not establish the names of the
other appointees at the time of going to press.
Muzonzini and, it is understood, several other appointees are on the "smart
sanctions" list released by the European Union and the United States. Their
appointment is viewed as Mugabe's way of busting sanctions by making them immune
under diplomatic conventions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs two weeks ago hosted the new recruits,
numbering about 50, at a workshop in Msasa where government policy on various
issues like indigenisation, agrarian reform and "British imperialism" was
explained.
Intelligence sources denied that Muzonzini had been demoted, saying he was
part of the new crop of Zanu PF supporters who were well versed with party and
government policy.
"Because of the closeness he enjoyed with the party hierarchy as a result of
his position as head of the CIO, Muzonzini is undeniably in sync with the
thinking of the top brass," said an intelligence source.
"And remember government rewards those who have shown unwavering support for
the party and its policies with foreign postings. He is in that mould."
Farmers to stay put
Augustine Mukaro
GOVERNMENT yesterday began a crackdown on defiant farmers as Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) officials held marathon meetings with authorities to prevent sweeping evictions.
Police yesterday raided
Justice for Agriculture (JAG) offices in Bulawayo, arresting an evaluator,
Andrew Lang, and seizing the organisation's confidential memo spelling out a
plan of action for the nearly 3 000 farmers under threat.
As the raid was taking place, CFU president Colin Cloete, was holding a
series of meetings with Vice-President Joseph Msika to try and break the
deadlock.
CFU vice-president (commodities) Doug Taylor-Freeme yesterday said the
majority of farmers would stay put on their properties as they make
representations to government expressing their desire to continue farming.
"The position of the CFU is that farmers will not vacate their farms but will
not be confrontational," Taylor-Freeme said.
"If anyone comes to their farms, they will explain that they have crops to
look after, animals to feed and assets to protect as the reasons why they will
not leave.
"As I am speaking to you, my president, Colin Cloete, is in a series of
meetings with Msika and government officials to try to break the impasse," he
said.
About 3 000 farmers sitting on Section 8 orders should according to the law
leave their farms today. Failure to comply could attract a two-year jail term or
$20 000 fine, or both. Msika, speaking at the CFU AGM in Harare on
Wednesday, said defiant farmers would face the full wrath of the law.
However, JAG vice-chairman John Wriswick yesterday told the
Independent that most farmers would not be leaving their farms.
"There will be no eviction without conviction," Wriswick said.
"JAG will be having lawyers on standby throughout the weekend and the holiday
to represent any farmer arrested for being on his property."
Cloete on Wednesday called on government to suspend the mass evictions and
foster a spirit of peaceful co-existence in the transitional period without
disturbing the country's on-going cropping programme.
Msika on Wednesday acknowledged the need to keep the expertise of the
farmers.
"We should co-operate and together succeed in our endeavours.
Productivity on the farms can only be enhanced with a deliberate blending of
your experience, expertise and knowledge of all farmers," Msika said.
There were fears yesterday that war veterans would take the law into their
own hands and drive out the farmers. However, War Veterans Association
secretary-general Endy Mhlanga said they would not join government to evict the
farmers since that was the duty of law enforcement forces.
"We don't take the law into our hands," Mhlanga said.
"There is no room for war vets to come in to enforce the law but we are
simply calling on all Zimbabweans to abide by the law."
Government plans for the mass eviction of farmers after the deadline have
been constantly checked with court rulings which gave farmers on Section 8
notices the right to continue farming.
On Wednesday High Court judge Justice Charles Hungwe ruled that a farm that
is mortgaged or bonded - as is the case with the majority - could not be
acquired for resettlement if the state has not properly informed the financial
institution involved.
Chidzero dies
Staff Writer
FORMER Minister of Finance Dr Bernard Chidzero died early yesterday morning at Harare's Avenues Clinic after a long illness.
Chidzero (75) died of
cardiac failure and leaves behind a wife and four children.
Chidzero narrowly lost an election to Boutros Boutros Ghali of Egypt - by
seven votes - for the powerful post of United Nations secretary-general in 1991.
Zimbabweans best remember him for his management of financial affairs in the
1980s and introducing the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme in 1991.
Chidzero was appointed to the Senate in 1980 soon after Independence after
working for the United Nations in different capacities. He also worked for the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from 1987 to 1990 as the chairman
of their joint development committee. - Staff Writer.
Muckraker
Friday, 9 August 2002
Moyo moves to slay phantom chimurenga
THE spat between Zimbabwe and Britain over the Langkawi Dialogue meeting provided the Herald with a front-page story for much of the week. And the paper must be congratulated for publishing the remarks of British Minister of State Baroness Symons in full.
She wrote to Dr Mihaela Smith, chief executive of the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management Ltd, one of the sponsors of the Langkawi Dialogue, to say President Mugabe was an inappropriate beneficiary of the programme which the UK government funds.
"The manner in which the economy has been damaged by the government of Zimbabwe, and the laying to waste of the tremendous potential and skills of the people of Zimbabwe can hardly be an example for other partners to follow," Baroness Symons wrote.
"Nor can there be effective dialogue with the head of a regime that so blatantly stifles freedom of expression and ignores the rule of law."
That in a nutshell reflects the views of most people about Mugabe’s regime. And it raises the pertinent question of why Commonwealth resources are being used to fund platforms where Mugabe can emit his noxious nationalism that has germinated nothing but destitution and famine in his own country.
Symons’ letter was branded "diplomatic terror" by the Herald’s usual sources although it is difficult to see how a letter couched in such temperate language can be equated to the murder of opposition supporters and threats to farmers that are a part of daily life in Zimbabwe.
What does strike us as strange though was Mihaela Smith’s naïve statement in reply that "independent nations are entitled to choose their own leaders". Doesn’t that beg the whole question about Mugabe’s legitimacy as an elected leader? And didn’t the Commonwealth make a stand on that very issue when it suspended Zimbabwe for failing to conduct a free or fair poll?
Smith refers to certain countries arrogating to themselves the right to determine the leadership of other countries "without regard for democratic practices or respect for international norms".
Isn’t that exactly what the Sadc parliamentary forum said about the March poll? That it was in clear violation of the international electoral norms adopted by the Sadc states only the year before? The Commonwealth agreed. Why didn’t Smith know any of this, or was she, as we suspect, merely parroting what a handful of leaders gathered in Malaysia required her to say?
But the most revealing part of Smith’s letter was her suggestion that the leaders feared they too could become the targets of an international campaign to remove them. She needs reassuring on this point. That will only happen if, like Sam Nujoma, they insist in following in Mugabe’s footsteps.
Putting aside the obvious point that Mugabe is now a source of controversy wherever he goes, diverting the attention of international conferences from their main business, the fact is that Malaysia under Mahathir is an economic success story and Zimbabwe under Mugabe a miserable failure. As the news agency AFP reported this week, the two leaders may share a love of anti-Western rhetoric, "but while Mahathir has steered his country from the economic backwaters to the mainstream of Asian development, Zimbabwe’s economy is in the worst crisis of its history".
That’s the bottom line.
President Mugabe told journalists covering the Langkawi Dialogue in Malaysia last week that no farmer in Zimbabwe had been evicted from his farm.
"There is no farmer being deprived of the land, we are kicking nobody out," he is reported as saying in what must constitute the biggest economy with the truth since Joseph Made guaranteed us food security last year.
Is Mugabe seriously claiming no farmers have been evicted? Is he completely unaware of the evictions taking place around the country, often in violation of provisions of the Land Acquisition Act and frequently accompanied by threats of violence? Has he not been reading his own newspapers which openly boast of the land seizures?
He wants the international media to believe that no farmer is being deprived of his land. Is he unaware of the deadline that was set for 2 900 farmers to leave their farms this week? And what of the $14,5 billion in property that Justice for Agriculture says has been illegally impounded or looted since February 2000? Is he completely unaware of these sinister dimensions to his third Chimurenga?
Did those present in Langkawi swallow this misinformation? Did they ask for evidence of a single farmer who has been given alternative land?
Mugabe must think that all journalists are very stupid. Or more to the point, that they are likely to believe his claims in the same way the Zimbabwean state media does. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
The president said that his government would arrest journalists who told lies. But he said nothing about politicians telling lies.
"We do not want journalists or reporters to have freedom above everyone else," Mugabe was reported as saying. "It is not freedom of the press to be immoral, to be untruthful, to be a liar. It is freedom of the press to be learned and to have prescribed morals and standards."
And what of politicians who don’t have "prescribed morals and standards", who fool around with their secretaries, who lie about the reasons for the country’s economic collapse? What shall we do with them?
But we liked the president’s unwitting commentary on the state media. He said: "There is a mission of wanting to destroy certain individuals because he does not belong to your camp and you must be saying things that are damaging to that individual all the time."
He has obviously been reading commentaries on Morgan Tsvangirai in the Herald and Sunday Mail. We are at least happy to have him acknowledge the problem.
As for the "perfect journalist" he hoped might emerge from greater education and experience, what about the one who claimed the MDC had "blown up" £1,3 million. What an explosion that must have been with pound notes scattering everywhere!
Jonathan Moyo, it seems, has felt the need to curb excesses in that section of the media he directly controls by quashing all talk of a fourth Chimurenga.
Moving against what might be called infantile dementia, Moyo found it necessary to hose down (as distinct from blow up) visions of a fourth Chimurenga being nursed in the Sunday Mail’s editorial offices where anticipating the minister’s next move is a full-time business.
Asked whether institutions like New Ziana represented the cutting edge of the mind-decolonising fourth Chimurenga, Moyo snapped: "What in heaven is that?"
"I must say it is news to me that there is or will be a fourth Chimurenga."
Institutions like New Ziana were the engines of the third Chimurenga, he sternly pointed out to his over-zealous wards. The picture at the top of the story showed Moyo looking delighted to once again be affording Miss Malaika a photo opportunity. The caption didn’t say whose Chimurenga engine she’s been fuelling but it seems to be a whole department’s.
We could ask the same of William Nhara. He heads something called the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance. But his article in the Sunday Mail last weekend suggested he was nothing more than another Zanu PF propaganda pedlar. He seemed quick to accuse others of being "Baa baa black sheep" but did some bleating of his own which included the occasional twisted fact. Does anybody remember Argentina defeating Britain in the "Malvinas"? Perhaps this was a subsequent event we all missed!
What exactly is the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance? When was it formed, who funds it, and apart from Nhara who else is a member? We would hate to think it was just another Heritage-Zimbabwe-type outfit headed by a second-rate party apologist.
Speaking of which, does anybody buy Look & Listen anymore? We ask because its editor, Alexander Kanengoni, is a contributor to the state media’s poisonous effluent and we would not want the reading public to buy a guide to ZTV’s threadbare productions without knowing whose salary they are paying for. Last weekend he launched a splenetic attack on Trudy Stevenson for "misleading" young blacks into thinking she was on their side.
But what was truly revealing about the article was the anger and frustration Kanengoni expressed over his failure to convert his drinking companions to the politics of race hate.
"Which side are they calling our side?" Kanengoni raged. "I get the more depressed when these same young men turn around and charge that the perception people like myself have belongs to the politics of the liberation struggle."
Doesn’t that tell us all we need to know about the moribund politics of those who have nothing except the shibboleths of the liberation struggle to offer today’s youth?
The Herald on Monday last week led with a story in which it claimed the GMB monopoly had been relaxed to allow private operators to buy maize directly from farmers. Agriculture minister Joseph Made went on to vehemently refute the story, describing it as "false" in a telephone interview with the ZBC from Malaysia.
Are we to expect any arrests for publishing falsehoods? Where are the police who are always so ready to pounce on anyone accused of this Moyo-invented crime? Or should we be content with the view that there are now two definitions of falsehoods, one official where the state-media are involved and they are not liable for prosecution, and a general one under which the state has been arresting journalists from the private press for abusing "journalistic privilege"?
On Friday the same paper led with a misleading heading claiming "Another opposition MP up for murder". As curious readers soon discovered, this was just another deception designed to tarnish the MDC.
The truth is no-one had been murdered on the days leading up to the report and therefore there could not have been an MDC MP involved in murder where there was none.
The fictional headline in fact referred to a repeat story on the murder of Bulawayo war veterans leader Cain Nkala last year in which an MDC MP was allegedly involved.
Our Nigerian list has now expanded to include: Mariam Ba-ngura, Dr Funke Ajayi, and Barrister Graham Douglas representing Mohammed Abacha. All say they have huge amounts of money waiting to be laundered. Our thanks to readers for sending in their nominations.
We recently reported on the damage done to Zimbabwe’s standing by remarks on food manipulation made by deputy Foreign minister Abednico Ncube. Not to be outdone, Didymus Mutasa last week made his contribution to the country’s growing isolation.
Here was his response to the BBC’s Grant Ferret on food aid: "There are true and genuine friends, like China, like Libya, like the Arab world, who will help us, and they will help us at our request. The rest of you can please keep your money, keep your aid, and keep yourselves out of Zimbabwe, and we will manage — thank you."
Zanu PF "manage"?
Now there’s an oxymoron!
Reports regularly appear in the press of poorly-organised beauty pageants where things go wrong from the moment the event fails to kick off on time.
Last Saturday the Herald carried a hilarious report — it was not meant to be — of a Miss Mashonaland East pageant in Marondera where a contestant fell off the ramp and fistfights broke out in the audience.
As the show got off to a painfully slow start, members of the audience became impatient and wandered onto the stage, we are told.
"They would pull our dresses and I was personally attacked as a person who is not from Marondera and called a Hararean," one contestant said.
Off stage, the contestants were crammed into a tiny dressing room where — heaven forbid — they had difficulty looking at themselves in the mirror. At one point a bottle was thrown through the dressing room window which led to some people being injured by broken glass. As they bravely soldiered on more obstacles awaited.
One contestant had difficulty seeing her way along the poorly-lit ramp, which did not have a supporting structure under the carpet, and tumbled into the audience.
When fistfights broke out among the spectators, police and security guards did nothing. The beauty contest was at times reduced to "a boxing show", the Herald said.
Sounds like everybody had a good time!
Finally, we were interested to note that the "trained professional criminals" and "political cowards" who Jonathan Moyo accused of attacking Dr Tafataona Mahoso recently were nothing more than streetkids who took advantage of a slow-moving target. We are not sure whether the opportunistic attempt to link an unfortunately common occurrence to the possibility of mass action constitutes a deliberate falsehood planted in a gullible paper. But we will expect a retraction in the public interest so there is no further alarm and despondency of this sort!
Devaluation is, isn’t, is, isn’t dead!
WHEN President Robert Mugabe opened the third session of the fifth parliament of Zimbabwe a little over a fortnight ago, he stated in no uncertain terms, that "devaluation is dead!". He said so unequivocally and without any caveat whatsoever. It was as if the oracle had spoken, and that which the oracle says must be absolute fact.
Moreover, he said that to advocate devaluation was sinister, and those who did so were saboteurs and enemies of the government. Although he named no specific persons, the world at large assumed that he was making reference to his Minister of Finance and Economic Development, and his governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), both of whom have most wisely and constructively urged that the grossly overdue and economically constructive devaluation of the Zimbabwean currency be realistically pursued, as a very necessary, unavoidable element of any programme to achieve economic recovery, and both of whom have unhesitatingly and courageously made their beliefs in such an essential measure known to government, and to the public at large.
However, whether or not the president had those two dignitaries in mind when he castigated those who support the concept of the inevitability of devaluation if economic recovery is to be forthcoming, they are not an isolated duo of economic realists. With one or two very notable exceptions, who have in the main focused upon ingratiating themselves with the government, in general, and the ruling party, in particular, almost all Zimbabwean economists recognise the absolute need for devaluation, and have resolutely made their views known.
So, too have the majority of the "captains of commerce and industry", they realising that, in the absence of devaluation, Zimbabwe’s fast shrinking capacity to export will become virtually extinct. In that event, the prevailing critical shortages of foreign currency will become even more intense, crippling the ability of most enterprises to continue in operation, markedly exacerbating the already pronounced hyperinflation, and being catalytic of yet further unemployment.
Zimbabwe has an already severely stressed economy, subjecting most Zimbabweans to massive poverty and hardships. The constraints upon economic survival become ever greater, with devaluation being a prerequisite for alleviation of the reversal of the economic collapse.
That is not to suggest that devaluation would be a magical cure-all, for if it is to enable an economic transformation, numerous other measures would have to be pursued vigorously and concurrently. They would include restoration of agricultural viability under a land programme transparently and justly implemented, encompassing communal, small-scale and commercial farmers of all races.
They would also include the establishment of absolute law, order, democracy and mutual respect, and interaction and entente between Zimbabwe and the international community. They would include determined destruction of racial, tribal, ethnic and gender divides and the creation of a single, united nation.
Measures would also be required to achieve rapid economic stimulation, the creation of an investment-welcoming environment, and one which is conducive to wide-ranging economic empowerment.
But, within the Zimbabwean environment, all those measures cannot suffice to bring about an economic metamorphosis unless devaluation to real currency exchange values is pursued. So, far from being saboteurs, those expressing the need for devaluation have the interests of Zimbabwe and all its people at heart. They fully appreciate that there are negative repercussions from devaluation, and not only positive consequences, but are aware that sometimes bitter medicine must be taken to cure a serious malignancy — or, as some suggest: "There is no gain without pain!".
Perhaps, it is because that — notwithstanding official governmental policies — in practice Zimbabwe is regularly actioning disguised, partial devaluations. The official mid-rate of exchange has, for almost two years, approximated Z$55 : US$1. In that same period of time, a parallel market has developed, and has become an essential source of foreign exchange to fund imports and to meet foreign debt obligations. The existence of that parallel market has enabled some exporters to survive, although for most only barely so.
The exporter has been able to realise 60% of export proceeds at a rate higher than the official rate, save for such exporters as require that 60% to fund import and foreign commitments. Thus, those exporters who were able to release export earnings into the parallel market, a new rate of exchange came into being, that rate being known as the blend rate.
At the present time, that blend rate approximates $412 : US$1, which is a far cry from the official rate, where the exporter can anticipate to receive $52,25 : US$1 only. Effectively, the Zimbabwean dollar has devalued, for those able to sell into the parallel market, by 87,32%, or has an official value of only 12,68% of that which should be its real rate.
Then, there is the "black market", wherein all trade is unreservedly unlawful, as distinct to that in the "parallel market" where there are extensive doubts as to their legality or illegality, according to the divergent characteristics of each transaction, and hence that market is often referred to as "the grey market". Relatively authoritative sources suggest that exchange rates within the black market range from 20 to 35% higher than those in the parallel market.
The official, parallel and black market rates are not the only ones prevailing in Zimbabwe, and they are, save for the official rate, in any event, not rigid, but change responsively to fluctuations in supply and demand and to rising inflation. Overall, the rates over a period of time reflect effective devaluation. But, to all intents and purposes the government which rejects devaluation nevertheless does initiate special exchange rates for certain market sectors, thereby actually carrying out qualified, but not acknowledged, devaluation.
It first did so when it could no longer deny that the Zimbabwean gold mining industry was progressively approaching total collapse as, irrespective of the international gold market price, reward to the gold industry determined that the official exchange rate could not cover costs, which costs were continuously rising.
It, therefore, motivated the Reserve Bank to introduce a gold floor support price, yielding an exchange rate well beyond the official rate. It has since reviewed that support price on several occasions, although inadequately, each review being nothing other than a disguised devaluation, even if benefitting one market sector only.
And earlier this year, it emulated that action by specifying an enhanced exchange rate for the tobacco industry. As always, government addressed a pressing economic need half-heartedly, creating a quasi-exchange rate for the tobacco industry’s sales at $99:US$1, and very recently devaluing that to approximately $159:US$1, thereby yielding the average tobacco sale a marginally more realistic price of about $317 per kg, as against $110 a year ago and $198 a few months ago.
The latest governmental recognition of the need for devaluation evidenced itself only two days after the president pronounced sentence of death upon devaluation. A little more than 48 hours after that pronouncement, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development tabled a supplementary budget for 2002 in parliament.
Included therein was that a dual currency structure would, in future, pertain to imports for purposes of computing liability to customs duty and import tax. Imports other than manufacturing inputs, basic consumer commodities, and a range of other goods not specified by him, are to be valued at an exchange rate of $300:US$1, as distinct from application of the official rate. That represents a 545% increase in Zimbabwean dollar value of imports, or equates to a devaluation of 81,67%!
So, Zimbabwe has an official exchange rate, a parallel market exchange rate, a blend rate, a black Market exchange rate, a gold producer’s exchange rate, a tobacco grower’s exchange rate and, of these six rates, five are reflective of devaluation, with two of such rates having been significantly adjusted subsequent to the alleged decease of devaluation.
Clearly, therefore, devaluation is not dead but, because it is applied selectively and illogically, instead of consistently with changing real values, most economic sectors continue to suffer, and the circumstances of the economy become ever more parlous.
Foreign exchange markets in turmoil
ZIMBABWE'S foreign exchange markets are in turmoil. The official market, being that conducted (at exchange rates prescribed by the Reserve Bank) by the banks is almost non-existent. The only inflows into the official market are the 40% of export proceeds of the private sector as are sold by exporters upon their receipt of payment from their customers beyond Zimbabwe's borders.
Those inflows are directed almost exclusively towards servicing the foreign currency needs of government and its parastatals, being for the payment of fuel and energy imports, some limited servicing of foreign debt, funding of the ongoing military involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other government needs.
The amount of foreign exchange flowing into the official market is steadily declining as Zimbabwe suffers a continuing shrinkage in exports. To a very major extent that decline is a direct consequence of the inflation prevailing in Zimbabwe.
Inflation impacts massively upon production costs of almost all exports, and the producers are increasingly unable to recover the rising production costs, for their export markets will not accept any substantive escalation in prices, and the rigidity of the official exchange rates precludes the exporters achieving any increase in export proceeds.
Those rates have remained almost unchanged since August 2000 in which period aggregate inflation has exceeded 210%. Effectively, production costs have virtually doubled, whilst the sales proceeds have to the extent that they were realised through the official market, remained constant.
To some extent exporters were able to compensate for the adverse impact of the official rate by disposing of the residual 60% of export proceeds through what has become known as the parallel market, being sale of their foreign exchange to those requiring such foreign exchange for payment for imports and of other commitments as are legitimately payable in terms of prevailing exchange control regulations, the purchasers being unable to source their requirements within the official market as the hunger of government and its parastatals for hard currencies is so voracious that there is hardly any available to others. However, many exporters cannot dispose of the export revenues remaining in their hands, for they require them to effect payment for the import content of their production.
The result has been that if they continued to export, they inevitably sustained losses, for the costs of production exceed their earnings. This has been particularly so for many of Zimbabwe's mines, forcing cessation of operations, and for numerous of the previously very viable horticultural operations which have similarly been forced into discontinuance of exports or, at best, continuance of export operations to a lesser extent only sufficient to provide them with their foreign exchange requirements for imports.
The same constraints have sharply diminished the exports of the textile, clothing, furniture and many other industries.
Inflows have also been very severely reduced by the extensive cutback of international aid to Zimbabwe. The country's confrontation with the international community, characterised by endless abuse by Zimbabwe of those that have long been its principal supporters and the source of considerable developmental and humanitarian aid, and by Zimbabwe's pursuit of policies in conflict with the fundamentals of human rights, democracy and law and order have forced termination of many aid programmes and, therefore, a sharp reduction in foreign currency inflows.
As a result, there has not only been a lessening of foreign currency within the official market, but also in the parallel market. Concurrently with the decreased availability within the markets, there has been a marked increase in demand, primarily as the state has desperately had to source as much foreign exchange as possible to pay for the massive food imports rendered necessary by the abysmal levels of maize, wheat and other crop yields as consequence of a combination of the devastating drought suffered by Zimbabwe and the considerable reduction in agricultural production as a direct result of government's mismanagement of the agricultural sector.
To all intents and purposes, currencies are commodities as much as are any other items of merchandise, their values being driven by the extent of balance between supply and demand. The greater the availability of a currency and the lesser the demand for that currency, the lower is its value, and the greater the demand and lesser the supply, the higher the value that attaches to it.
In recent weeks there has been a very marked increase in demand, whilst the contraction in exports, the virtual non-existence of foreign direct investment, and the loss of much international aid have significantly lowered supply. As a result, foreign exchange rates on the parallel market have soared to almost unbelievable heights. Prior to the March 2002 presidential election the parallel market rate of the US dollar was approximately $310, whereas it now exceeds $600. In a matter of only 12 weeks, the value of foreign currencies has approximately doubled, the upsurge being not only for US dollars but also other currencies.
The rise in demand has been occasioned not only by government's need to fund food imports, but also by other factors. During the run-up to the presidential election, exchange rates fell by more than 25% and some in the private sector with foreign currency commitments, foreshadowed that the rate would continue to fall. Therefore, they delayed purchasing their currency needs.
Others believed that following the commencement of the tobacco sales on May 14 there would be substantially greater availability of currency and, therefore, a fall in exchange rates. However, that did not occur, for a change in exchange control policies resulted in tobacco generated foreign currencies flowing directly to the Reserve Bank and, in any event, the tobacco sales proceeds were considerably less than anticipated.
The decrease in sales revenues below expectations was partially due to a much reduced production, thanks to the extensive destruction of the tobacco industry by government's ill-conceived land acquisition, redistribution and resettlement programme.
But the decrease in tobacco earnings was also to a very great extent due to government's determined continuance of a totally unrealistic exchange rate which could only yield sales proceeds equal to a fraction of production costs. Within a week of the commencement of the tobacco sales, government reluctantly recognised the reality that tobacco producers could not afford to sell if they were paid at the prevailing, artificially maintained rate of US$1: $55 and introduced an 80% support price enhancement, giving producers an effective $99 for each US dollar.
But that still does not suffice, for growers need at least $160 to the US dollar if they are to recover their costs of production and be able to fund next season's crop. Many have therefore been understandably reluctant to consign their tobacco to the sales floors, but are holding their crop in a hope of price improvement. Others have been forcibly prevented by those who have settled on their farms from sending their tobacco to the floors for sale.
When it was realised that, contrary to some expectations, the exchange rates were not going to fall, those who had delayed sourcing their requirements of foreign exchange rushed into the market, and that further increase in demand contributed even more to the upsurge in the rates.
Soon an upward spiral was in motion, for as the rates rose higher and higher, near panic set in for many who, fearing yet further rate increases, rushed into the depleted market to buy currencies ahead of those increases, and that additional demand in excess of supply stimulated still further rate increases.
The result is that some speculate that rates will rise to $800: US$1 before the end of June, and at least $1 000: US$1 by year-end. Should this be so, the impact upon inflation will be cataclysmic, and the already severely distressed economy will be sent to never-before experienced depths of recession, with innumerable businesses unable to survive, and the existing widespread poverty becoming even more intense.
However, the turmoil and bedlam that is the parallel market of today is not likely to continue, and there is every likelihood that the pessimistic forecasts of future exchange rates will not materialise. What is likely to occur is that the market rates will soon reach resistance levels as occurred in September 2000, whereat many will withdraw from purchasing in the market, knowing that at such rates they will be unable to recover the costs from their customers. This will particularly be so of importers of luxury goods such as television sets, perfumery and the like, for the consumer market will cease buying such goods when prices are prohibitively high.
When that occurs, rates will stabilise and may well reduce, although not to the previously pertaining levels.
But the bedlam and turmoil will only end temporarily unless government, finally and belatedly, does that which is necessary to restore economic wellbeing, including a realistic devaluation of the Zimbabwe currency, positive export incentivisation, deregulation and so forth.
Motor industry reels under import duty hike
Stanley James
ZIMBABWE'S motor industry has started to feel the impact of government's recent 445% hike in duty payable on imported motor vehicles which has depressed demand for locally produced cars.
Responding to queries from
the Zimbabwe Independent this week, Motor Trade Association of Zimbabwe
president Cleophas Makoni said the tariffs increase would result in a hike in
the cost of imported cars and new cars, thus depressing demand.
"The measure will increase the cost of imported used cars in the same way as
that of new cars," Makoni said.
"Most dealers feel this will depress demand. On the other hand, if there is a
large negative reaction to the high price of a new car, this may cause buyers to
seek lower prices and favour used cars despite the increased cost."
Government recently increased the rate of exchange used for calculating value
of duty on luxury goods such as vehicles from the previous rate of $55/US$1 to
$300/US$1.
Makoni said the duty structure would create difficulties for the country's
major vehicle assembly players, Willowvale Mazda Motor Industry (WMMI) and Quest
Motors Corporation, both reeling under production constraints because of
difficulties in accessing hard currency to import kits.
Msika rapped at CFU congress
Dumisani Muleya
AGRI-SA director Jack Raath stunned Acting President Joseph Msika and ministers at the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) annual congress on Wednesday by delivering a frontal attack on government in their presence.
The South African
agricultural leader, who was attending the meeting as an invited guest, seized
the stage with ginger and condemned government's land reforms and economic
policies.
"Mr Acting President, you have told the truth and let me tell the truth
because only that way can we move forward," he said. "There is gross
mismanagement of this country's economy by your government. There is confusion
and destruction in the way you are dealing with this issue of land reform and
this is disappointing."
Raath said he was not there to fudge issues but to tell the truth. He said
hand-wringing and a timid response by the South African leadership had not
helped matters.
"I also see increased racism in Zimbabwe at this point in time," he said amid
muffled voices of protest by government officials, in particular Minister of
State in Msika's office, Olivia Muchena.
"I must tell you this because it's what we observe," Raath continued. "We
can't just ignore this and say it's not true. Some of the things happening here
look crazy to us and they are not good for the region and Zimbabwe itself. We
need a paradigm shift."
Raath said ill-conceived reforms like the mining reorganisation in South
Africa and the ongoing land redistribution in Zimbabwe had been poorly
undertaken.
"Can we afford this?" he rhetorically asked. "Are we taking the continent
forward if we are doing this?"
Other government officials who had to endure Raath's broadside were acting
Agriculture minister Ignatius Chombo, who was standing in for Joseph Made who
was in Singapore with President Mugabe, Public Service minister July Moyo, and
Mashonaland West provincial governor Peter Chanetsa.
Msika looked glum at the high table while Chombo continued scribbling notes
as Raath delivered salvo after salvo.
There was a low-intensity verbal clash between government officials and CFU
officials ahead of last night's midnight's deadline for thousands of farmers to
vacate their land.
Restrained confrontation simmered in statements and a thread of mutual
hostility ran through all the addresses.
Msika set the tone warning government would deal with defiant farmers.
"The launch of the land reform programme was met with a lot of resistance
from most of you," he said. "Not only did you sensationalise a noble objective
but also both politicised the programme and even internationalised it. We are
aware there is a small clique amongst you (thought to be a reference to Justice
for Agriculture) who are itching for continued confrontation with government.
This group will only have itself to blame," he said without elaborating.
Turning to charges of racism, Msika said: "I have never been a racist and I
will never be a racist. I despise racism." But only recently Msika said whites
were not human beings.
CFU president Colin Cloete struck back at Msika, saying the land reform
exercise was chaotic and muddled.
"Government's declared land reform policy is not in question," he said.
"However, the amendment of the Land Acquisition Act and subsequent actions
brought about a variety of interpretations on implementation, resulting in
confusion and causing a breakdown of law and order thereby giving free rein to
warlords, settlers, and other elements to take control on the ground and operate
outside the laid down rules."
CFU regional executive Ben Freeth had opened the meeting with a controversial
prayer, which also unsettled authorities.
Part of the prayer said: "Lord God thank you for the situation we now face.
Thank you not because we enjoy being dispossessed or assaulted or because we
enjoy having friends or family murdered and abandoned...but because we are being
taught to learn."
The land grab has destroyed Zimbabwe
I AM a Zimbabwean studying in the UK. I have a strong sense of national pride. However, seeing the news I am always seeing makes me wonder how and why Zimbabwe has sunk so low. Zimbabwe used to be referred to as the breadbasket of southern Africa. Now half of the population stands to starve because of what President Robert Mugabe says is a drought.
I have been reading the
independent newspapers on the Internet for a few months (since the Herald is now
just Mugabe's propaganda machine). I read them with the utmost shock and
sadness. You might say that I am a whimp for saying this from here and not
facing it like it is, but what choice is there? Education is unaffordable in
Zimbabwe and without education there is little hope of a decent future.
This is all to blame on President Mugabe who is hoodwinking the world and
blaming it all on the drought. Mugabe is trying to turn Zimbabwe into his
personal property (he being king and feudal overlord over a nation of starving
peasant farmers). All he ever says is that whites are enemies. Yet, though they
treated black people badly and have done some terrible things, they have also
built schools, clinics, and other essential services.
Mugabe himself was educated in a school built by "white enemies".
Agriculture, the basis of our economy, is almost completely destroyed. That is
why Zimbabwe is starving now. We pay for all our sins. The land grab has
destroyed Zimbabwe. There is a Shona saying:
Nhamo yomumwe hairegererwe sadza (You can't grieve on account of another's
problems). That is why we never progress. On the contrary, whites assist each
other. That is why they were able to colonise Zimbabwe so successfully. You may
say they had better technology but in terms of numbers, we were more than them.
I don't think that if colonialists fought one another or refused to give each
other ammunition, men, or any other kind of help, they would have got anything
done. Instead they put aside any differences to concentrate on colonising us.
Mugabe accuses Morgan Tsvangirai of treason simply because he wants to stamp
out opposition. This is mainly to perpetrate his rule. Mugabe himself is
arguably guilty of treason against the people of Zimbabwe. Rule number one in
leadership is: "Everything is your fault."
In our culture old people are considered wise enough to make vital decisions.
But old people are more prone to ill-health. What we need now is a young fresh
mind; a strong, young person who can make quick and wise decisions. Henry IV of
France once said: "France will not be successful until every Frenchman has a
roast chicken on his dinner table at least every Sunday."
As a nation we are proving Ian Smith's every word right when he said: "The
black majority will never rule this land. Not in a thousand years. It will be
disastrous." All Zimbabweans are doing now is destroying each other. The land
grab is creating more hunger, food shortages and loss of jobs than people
thought it would.
It is creating more problems than it is solving. Mugabe and his cronies are
looting the country dry. They are now confiscating farms and helping themselves.
If we were all united, we could and would rid ourselves of this tyranny. Wake up
from this nightmare Zimbabwe before it is too late.
Looking on Sadly,
Memo - barren landscape IT will be interesting to
see what the majority of farmers decide to do today after their Section 8 notice
deadlines expired last night. I suspect many will go quietly. They have very
simply had enough of threats and harassment. Others will not want to
risk a jail term or fine. A number have already explored the possibility of
moving to Mozambique, Zambia or Uganda where their skills are more welcome than
they are here. Those countries evidently need people who can grow food
irrespective of their colour!
Many more will stay put. They will wait and see what government's response
will be to the expiry of their final 45-day notices. Some among this group have
successfully sought court orders enabling them to challenge the legality of the
process. Others will stay anyway because they feel they cannot abandon their
workers who have mostly remained loyal and supportive.
Then there is the livestock which needs constant attention. One of the
under-reported dimensions to what government misleadingly calls land reform is
the fate of farm animals and wildlife abandoned, slaughtered or cruelly
mistreated.
The occupation of the Lowveld conservancies for instance has taken a terrible
toll on what was a national resource - our rich diversity of game. It is
reckoned by conservationists that up to 50% of animals in conservancies have
been poached. Many species will be decimated by the cutting down and burning of
habitat.
Environment and Tourism minister Francis Nhema understands perfectly well the
implications of this eco-disaster for tourism and forex receipts, not to mention
the transfrontier park scheme at Gonarezhou. But he is powerless against the
hardliners driving President Mugabe's scorched-earth policies.
There are several NGO bodies attending to the welfare of farm workers whose
fate the government evidently doesn't care much about. But the numbers are
daunting. Up to 300 000 face dispossession and unless plans are made to relocate
them, they will add to the tide of rural poor drifting to the towns. The food
crisis - itself a product of land seizures - and the Aids pandemic will add to
the misery of the rural scene where once productive farms fed the nation, earned
valuable forex and employed a sizable proportion of the national workforce.
In the 1980s we understandably tended to identify commercial farmers with the
ancien regime, hopelessly unreconstructed leftovers from an earlier era. But
like all things, the picture soon changed. By the late 1990s a majority of
farmers were no longer descendants of Victorian pioneers. They had bought their
farms since Independence at the market price and many had "certificates of no
interest" from government to show they had first been offered to the state as
new laws required. Many farmers built clinics and schools, and their intensive
conservation areas that preserved woodlands, river systems and wildlife were
models of environmental care.
It must be heartbreaking for those farmers to know that the first thing many
of the new occupiers did was to cut down the trees for commercial sale and kill
the game. A drive through Banket, Chinhoyi and Karoi will now reveal lean-to
structures and barren fields where once irrigated maize, wheat and soya beans
thrived.
The great tragedy is that none of this need have happened. If the government
had taken up the donors' 1998 offer to fund a properly planned land reform
programme, new settlers would have acquired skills from their more experienced
neighbours. Donor funds would have been available for infrastructure such as
roads, clinics and schools as well as inputs.
Training in animal husbandry, seed cultivation and wildlife management would
have been possible and new farmers would have been able to access loans
As it is, none of this will be forthcoming from government despite
extravagant assurances of money it doesn't have. There is anyway no substitute
for the transfer of skills that occurs when the inexperienced benefit from those
who are regarded as among the most successful farmers in Africa.
While blame for the disaster now unfolding can be laid squarely at the door
of a terminally sick and lawless regime, the role of farmers' representatives in
seeking to do deals with Zanu PF officials behind closed doors is part of the
problem. Those farmers' leaders who have collaborated with ruling party
land-grabbers don't deserve to keep their own. As it is, the whole record of
violent occupations, political retribution, and hugely damaging official orders
for all agricultural activities to cease, have created a desert where there was
once a lush landscape. It has also of course led to the country's pariah status.
Nobody wants to be associated with a regime that has pauperised its people.
Those leaving the farms this weekend will have the nation's sympathy as will
those staying. But it is those who have stood up to the bullying cowards in
power who deserve our real admiration. That's what we should all be doing.
Iden Wetherell