News release
(On behalf of Justice for Agriculture)
Reports received
from Matabeleland indicate that six commercial farmers have
been summonsed to
appear before provincial magistrates in Matabeleland South
on Friday 15th
August 2002.
Exhaustive efforts were made this evening to confirm exact
numbers but these
proved fruitless due to poor telecommunications in the
region. Initial
reports were that there could be as many as 50 who could be
vulnerable under
Section 8 notices.
A lawyer representing four of the
farmers confirmed that his clients had
received a summons and that they would
appear in Court tomorrow. The fifth
is due to appear in a Filabusi District
Court and it is not yet know where
the sixth will appear.
"It is of
interest to note that two of my clients have already had their
cases
withdrawn in the Administrative (Land Court) on technicalities and the
other
two have had their Section 8 orders issued on the wrong title deeds.
They are
all however farming community leaders in their areas." Said the
lawyer who
could not be named for professional reasons.
The Summons, which is both
typed, and hand written reads: (Handwritten
statement in capitals) Issued
from Magistrates Court in the province of
Matabeleland South.... You are
hereby required and directed BY STATE, on the
sight hereof to summon (NAME)
OF ........... THAT HE APPEAR PERSONALLY
BEFORE THE court of the Magistrate
at (place) on the 16th AUGUST 2002 AT 8
o'clock in the forenoon then to
answer and abide the judgement of the court,
arising from the following
charge (s))
CIS 9 (1) (b) (ii) OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT CHAPTER 20:10
OWNER /
OCCUPIER/ OF LAND FAIL TO CEASE/OCCUPY/LEAVING QUARTERS AFTER 90
DAYS.
The document indicates on whom the Summons was served and by whom
and is
stamped with the Zimbabwe Republic Police stamp.
Lawyers will be on
hand to defend the farmers who will most likely defend
themselves by
declaring that the amendments to the Land Acquisition Acts are
not
constitutionally correct.
Communications have also been received from
Mashonaland Central and East
that groups of people comprising police, war
veterans, land ministry
officials have been visiting farmers to indicating
that the farmers are to
leave by Friday 5pm or face arrest.
Ends
15th August 2002
For more information, please contact Jenni Williams
Justice For Agriculture
Mobile (263) 91 300 456 or 11 213 885
jennipr@mweb.co.zw <mailto:jennipr@mweb.co.zw>
OUR
ADVICE TO FARMERS - SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION REGARDING THE
LAND
ACQUISITION AMENDMENT ACT:
1. Landowners probably have a fair
idea of whether or not they are likely to
face possible arrest for remaining
on their farms after 10 August by virtue
of whatever has been happening in
their areas during the past month or two.
Some people may well be able to
continue farming while others are likely to
face problems.
2. 2.1 Note
that a section 8 order is NOT an eviction order. According to
section 9 (1)
(b) it constitutes notice to the owner or occupier to cease to
occupy, hold
or use land (45 days after 10 May) and notice to cease to
occupy the living
quarters within 90 days (i.e. 9 August).
2.2 Failure to vacate the living
quarters may constitute the crime of
contravening section 9 91) (b) (ii) for
overstaying but it is only if and
when the owner/occupier has been convicted
that the court should issue an
eviction order. The orders are not issued by
the District Administrator or
the Police.
3. We are likely to see arrests
of those who have section 8 orders and who
stay on after 8 August. There may
be hundreds or more; there may be a few
high profile cases. There will at
least be many instances in which people
are required to go to the Police and
"make a statement" explaining why there
are still at home. Those arrested
will be invited to make a statement.
4. It is advised that anyone charged
with overstaying i.e. contravening
section 9 (1) (b) (ii) of the Act - should
make a statement. Clients should
get a lawyer if possible but otherwise a
statement along the following lines
should suffice. -
"I deny that what I
am doing is unlawful. My land case has still not been
heard and the High
Court is already having to consider the validity of this
law. I am helping to
produce food and exports to earn foreign currency which
we all need and I
need to remain in my home to protect my assets."
5. After a statement has
been made, the farmer may be released to go home
whether he was first
arrested or not. In either case the Police may require
a payment of "bail
out". This could be anything from Zd$1000.00 to Zd$50
000.00, probably about
Zd$10 000.00. Bail could be refused at this time and
detention in police
cells may follow. Those detained may or may not be
allowed visitors, food, a
magazine/book and toiletries.
6. We do appreciate that the Police have a job
to do and they will be
following orders. Clients should stay calm and try not
protest at invasion
of human rights. We presume that some individuals may be
locked up however
proper their conduct.
7. If clients are not released
(on bail or otherwise), the Police should
take them before a Magistrate
within 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays
and Public Holidays). That 48
hours may be extended by a police officer to
96 hours. The longest anyone
arrested over the long weekend can be lawfully
detained is until the
following Thursday.
8. Apply for bail and it will probably be given. If the
Court rules that a
condition of bail is that one does not return home, accept
that but
immediately lodge an appeal against that condition.
9. If bail
is refused or if the conditions are unreasonable, different
applications can
be made to the High Court for bail or a change of the
conditions. At this
time a lawyer's help is probably essential.
10. If the Police or Magistrate
ask why client claims to be not guilty he
does not have to answer that
question. But then the Police and the
Magistrate do not have to release
client - with or without bail. Accordingly
there could be advantages in
clients raising one or more of the following
defences where appropriate:
-
10.1 No service on Bondholders
There have been recent High Court cases
confirming that if, when the section
5 notice was published, the farm was
bonded or subject to a servitude, then
it was necessary to serve a copy of
the notice on the bondholder or
servitude holder. Failure to do so
invalidates the section 5 notice and the
section 8 order which follows on
that notice (See the case of Simon and
Simon (Pvt) Ltd. - v- The Minister of
Lands; Harare High Court Case No. H.C.
5379/02 Mt. No. HH 107/02)
Check
with your bank to see if they were served with section 5s and 8s. Get
a copy
of the front page of your Title Deeds if they reflect an uncancelled
bond and
get a letter from the Bank confirming that they were not notified
of the
notice or the order.
10.2 Administrative Court Application too late
The
High Court has also ruled that if the Administrative Court does not
receive a
section 7-court application within 30 days of the date of service
of the
section 8 order (NOT the date on the order), then the section 8 is
invalid.
It used to be a common error but not so many cases like this
recently. (See
to Simon & Simon Case)
10.3 The Quinnell Case: H.C. 5263/02
The High
Court recently issued a Provisional Order in which it ordered the
Minister of
Lands, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General to show
cause why the
new amendment to the Land Acquisition Act should not be
declared invalid. It
has therefore accepted that there is a prima facie case
that the law may be
invalid for a couple of reasons
(a) Invalidity of the Land Acquisition
Amendment Act
This Act, which was brought into force on 10 May 2002, could
itself be
invalid and any arrest based on an invalid Act would then be
unlawful. It
could be unlawful because the same legislation was defeated
earlier in the
same session of Parliament but defeated. The Courts have
already held that a
re-enactment of some electoral laws defeated earlier in
the same session was
invalid. (See Biti -v-Minister of Justice & Others
Case No S.C. 10/02
(b) Minister not lawfully appointed
There has never
been a formal appointment of any Ministers since the
President was
re-elected. Their acts since then could therefore be unlawful.
This is not a
final order but it does show that the High Court recognises
the possible
merit of these two points and others and they may well
invalidate the new
section 9.
10.4 Deprivation of property without Court hearing
The
Constitution prohibits deprivation of property without a court hearing.
The
new section 9 makes it unlawful for client to stay in his home even if
the
validity of the acquisition has not been confirmed. Continued
occupation
could be no more than the lawful exercise of a claim of right
exercised in
the face of the failure of the acquiring authority to obtain
confirmation of
the acquisition.
This is a Constitutional point and can be
raised by anyone but it is likely
to lead to a long wait before the Supreme
Court gives a decision. In terms
of section 24 of the Constitution, a
Magistrate is obliged to refer a
Constitutional argument like this to the
Supreme Court. This must be done
and should be raised as an argument.
Many
people are receiving section 7 papers. Section 7s do NOT cancel the
section
8s and they do not automatically give you a defence against eviction
or
suspend the section 8.
The Section 7 will give you a day in Court - one day
in the future!! Your
arrest will give you a day in Court within a week. And
this time Government
has to prove everything including the lawfulness of the
laws and the way in
which they have been used.
Ends
You
can stay, Mugabe said, but two days later family was
gone
By Peta Thornycroft in
Condwelani
Sydney Morning Herald: August 16
2002
Within 48 hours of President Robert Mugabe telling the world that white
farmers who owned a single farm could stay, the Hinde family were forcibly
evicted from their only piece of land.
Terry Hinde and his British-born wife Sue woke up to a screaming mob of Mr
Mugabe's supporters surrounding their house on, hurling insults and threatening
them with violence for staying beyond the August 8 deadline for 2900 white
farmers to abandon their homesteads.
"We knew we had come to the end of the road, so we called the removal company
and decided to leave," said Mr Hinde, 59, his eyes red-rimmed with
exhaustion.
Before Mr Mugabe's land seizure campaign he was a big producer of wheat,
tobacco and soya at his 880-hectare farm at Condwelani, north of Harare. But on
Wednesday morning he became the target for a mob of Mr Mugabe's militant
backers, who surrounded the home and began to smash to windows.
Their fury intensified when we were joined by Precious Shumba, a reporter
from the independent Daily News, a persistent critic of the Government.
After handing them his business card he slipped into the house shaking. When
they realised who he was, Mr Mugabe's supporters started screaming and banging
windows, demanding the "journalists" come out to to explain his lies.
"The Daily News demonises President Mugabe; they tell lies, every day.
They are enemies," screamed a youth wielding a homemade axe. For more than an
hour they laid siege to the house. The Hindes telephoned the police asking for
help. The police said they had no vehicle to send.
The Hindes, who have had squatters on their farm since April 2000, have been
threatened and prevented from growing all but a few crops, had scores of their
cattle slaughtered, and until Wednesday had soldiered on.
The mob began pushing through the front door, looking for Shumba. Mr Hinde
resisted. "This is my last stand; they cannot come in here," he said. A
neighbour offered to go to collect the police. The mob shouted that they were
the police, and that we were British, that blacks in Britain did not own land,
and that there were 2 million whites in Zimbabwe. In fact, about 30,000 are
left.
"Give us beer, give us cigarettes," they roared. The removal company then
arrived.
By this time Shumba had shed his navy jacket and tie and disguised himself in
a T-shirt and khaki hat. When they tried to storm the sitting room, we hid him
under a bed. Eventually two older men, genuine veterans of Zimbabwe's
independence war, arrived. They told the mob there were "no orders for any
violence today", and escorted Shumba out of the house and into my car. We sped
down the dusty driveway, five hours after we arrived, leaving the Hindes behind.
They, too, later made it safely to Harare.
The Telegraph, London
ZIMBABWE: Govt moves to enforce eviction orders
JOHANNESBURG, 15 August
(IRIN) - Up to seven white farmers, who had ignored a government deadline to
abandon land targeted for resettlement, were on Thursday served with notices to
appear in court.
About 2,900 white farmers targeted under the Section 8
Land Acquisition Act had until last Thursday to leave their properties or face a
fine of US $375 or two years in jail, or both.
But the majority of
farmers, about 60 percent, remained on their properties, waiting to see if the
government would enforce the order.
Justice for Agriculture (JAG)
spokeswoman Jenny Williams told IRIN on Thursday that the government had begun
to act against farmers who had not obeyed eviction orders.
"We've had a
report from Matabeleland that six to seven farmers who were under Section 8
notices, have been issued with summons to appear in the magistrate's court
tomorrow [Friday] and the charge is violating the acquisition orders," Williams
said. JAG was awaiting confirmation that the seventh farmer had been served with
a summons.
Williams stressed that the farmers were not arrested, merely
given notice to appear in court to answer charges.
JAG has claimed that
since the first state-driven farm invasions began in February 2000, a total of
13 farmers and about 40 farm workers had been murdered and about 70,000 farm
workers have been forced into homelessness.
Williams said it was
possible that news of the summonses served on the Matabeleland farmers could
lead others to leave their farms.
"We are recommending that farmers sign
a warned and cautioned statement, [stating] that they are not doing anything
unlawful by farming, they are merely carrying out their livelihood which is
earning foreign currency for Zimbabwe and feeding the nation. These seven
farmers will defend themselves on that basis in court tomorrow [Friday],"
Williams said.
Western donors and aid agencies have slammed President
Robert Mugabe's fast-track land reform programme saying that the government's
haphazard approach to land re-distribution had contributed to the current food
crisis in the country.
About six million people are in need of food aid
in Zimbabwe, according to a report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food
and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
The report said disruptions to
farming saw agricultural production drop dramatically. Combined with drought and
rising food prices, this left the cash-strapped government unable to buy the
stock needed to fill the food gaps.
[ENDS]
IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11
880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
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Daily News
Two Britons denied entry
8/15/02 9:19:31 AM
(GMT +2)
By Sandra Nyaira Political Editor
THE
government, stung by the European Union and US targeted sanctions,
last week
barred two Britons from entering the country.
Sources in
the immigration department said yesterday the two had
arrived aboard a
British Airways flight and had been refused entry. They
were forced to return
to London the same night aboard the same plane.
The sources said
the immigration officers apparently had orders to
start retaliating to the
British government's "smart" sanctions against
Mugabe and his close
associates.
The Zimbabwean authorities, sources said, were also
citing the British
government's high-handedness in dealing with Zimbabweans
travelling to the
UK.
The British High Commission's
spokesperson, Sophie Honey, confirmed
the Zimbabwe government had refused the
two Britons entry into the country
but said immigration matters were a matter
for Zimbabwean authorities.
Her office refused to release the names
of the Britons. "I can only
confirm that the two were denied entry on the 8th
of August," she said.
Sources in the immigration department said one of the
two was coming into
the country to wed a Zimbabwean woman while the other was
on business.
Daily News
Mayhem on farms
8/15/02 9:00:42 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff Reporters
Farmer's house razed to the
ground
Journalists held hostage
MAYHEM and
violence has characterised the ongoing forced evictions of
thousands of
commercial farmers, with one farmer sustaining serious facial
burns following
an arson attack on his farmhouse on Saturday night.
The injured
Rusape farmer, Dup Muller, and his wife Hennelie, narrowly
escaped from the
raging fire that engulfed their entire house just after
midnight and reduced
it to ashes.
The attack was carried out by a group of unidentified
people. Nothing
was recovered from the house in which the Mullers have lived
for 40 years.
The arson attack came a few minutes after the expiry
of the deadline
to leave the farm in line with the government's eviction
orders, which most
commercial farmers have vowed to defy.
Muller, 59, said the blaze could not have been caused by an electrical
fault
because all the lights in the farmhouse were in perfect working order
when he
switched them on, as he tried to establish the cause of the fire.
He said he noticed some inflammable substance on one of the window
panes,
indicating the fire could only have been the work of arsonists.
Muller said a report was made to the police in Rusape but they said
they had
no transport and could not, therefore, travel to the scene of
the
attack.
"The assailants came in the middle of the night and
poured diesel
around the house before setting it on fire," Muller said. "My
wife heard
strange noises outside the house and we tried to go out and
investigate. It
was then that we found out that the house was in flames.
Everything was
burnt," Muller said.
A visibly shaken Muller said
he and his wife were lucky to have
survived the attack and they had since
sought refuge at an adjacent farm. He
dismissed as "rubbish" claims by
Rusape's assistant district administrator,
who identified himself only as
Chiringa, that the evidence his office had
gathered showed that the fire was
caused by an electrical fault.
Justice for Agriculture, a
newly-formed union of combative commercial
farmers, yesterday said the
Mullers of Rusape had an 80-hectare tobacco crop
valued at $19,2
million.
In a related development, Precious Shumba, a reporter with
The Daily
News, and Peta Thornycroft, a correspondent for the London Daily
Telegraph,
were yesterday held hostage for about five hours together with
farmer
Christopher Hinde and his family at Condwelani Farm, about 26km along
the
Bindura-Mount Darwin road.
A group of about 120 suspected
Zanu PF supporters, who demanded that
Hinde should leave the farm, assaulted
Daily News driver Trust Maswela and
warned him never to venture into
Mashonaland Central province because Zanu
PF had declared it a no-go
area.
Maswela said: "I was badly assaulted by a group of about 20
Zanu PF
youths. They only stopped the assaults after being restrained by
their
superiors."They alleged that Shumba was supposed to have approached
their
superiors for permission to interview the besieged farmer.
The group demanded that Shumba be released to them so they could hand
him
over to their "central committee" in order for it to deal with him.
Shumba
was released when the Daily News driver eventually came to the
farmhouse with
three war veterans who negotiated his release.
The news crew was
warned against returning to the farm. Although the
police were alerted of
their detention, they did not react despite promising
that they were on their
way.
Thornycroft lost her camera valued at US$1 000 (Z$55 000 at
the
official rate), while Susan Hinde was robbed of Z$3 000 in cash.The
violent
mob smashed about five window panes and broke locks to the main
bedroom as
they threatened to set the whole house on fire if Shumba was not
handed over
to them. Shumba had gone into the house to interview Hinde. The
Hinde family
is being evicted from their Condwelani Farm which has been
designated for
compulsory acquisition.
Justice for Agriculture,
(JAG), a newly-formed union of combative
commercial farmers, yesterday said
the Mullers of Rusape had an 80-hectare
tobacco crop valued at $19,2
million.
The assailants are demanding that the farmer move off the
property in
compliance with the controversial Section 8 of the Land
Acquisition
Amendment Act, which has resulted in renewed confrontation
between the
government and the commercial farmers.
On Heroes
Day, President Mugabe said all white commercial farmers on
designated land
should evacuate their properties by the end of this month.
Daily News
Police allegedly threaten to crush MDC
activists
8/15/02 9:30:44 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
EDISON Masama of the MDC in Murambinda alleges the police
in the area
have threatened to repeat the 1980s massacre of those who
resisted
government's rule in Matabeleland during the anti-dissident
campaign.
About 20 000 people died during the conflict. Masama, 33,
said this
following his release from Murambinda Police Station where he
claimed to
have been tortured by several unidentified police officers and
members of
the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
He
reportedly spent six days in detention. Masama said he was released
on Sunday
last week without being charged."The police at Murambinda told me
that MDC
activists should prepare themselves for more torture until they
ceased to
bother the government." Masama said.He said: "Constables Nkomo and
Rego of
the Law and Order Section said the MDC wanted to resist the
government just
as PF Zapu did in Matabeleland."
"During the torture they said I
should advise MDC mujibhas
(collaborators) who were being trained outside the
country to come and join
the government or face the perpetuation of beatings
and torture of MDC
activists throughout the country," he said.
Masama said on Monday 22 July, a soldier with the Zimbabwe National
Army
who
only identified himself as Magarasadza and a police officer
identified
as Assistant Inspector Furawo, came to his home in Chitungwiza and
took him
to St Mary's Police Station.
He said the two accused
him of being one of the suspected MDC
supporters who allegedly petrol-bombed
Vengai Mukurunge's house in Buhera on
12 July.
Mukurunge is the Zanu
PF provincial secretary for education in
Manicaland and the education officer
in the Ministry of Education and
Culture for Buhera.
"They said
I was a key suspect." Masama said. "They took me to the
police station where
I was detained. After two days in police custody, I was
taken to Murambinda
police station where I was accused of masterminding the
burning of Zanu PF
supporters' houses."
Masama could hardly walk or sit when he was
brought to The Daily News
offices.
Wilbert Marindire, the MDC
district secretary for Buhera North, said
the police had set up bases at all
business centres in Buhera, from which
they have planned the torture of
suspected and known MDC activists in their
homes during the night since 11
June.He said the police bases are at Buhera
Police Station, Dorowa, Chinyadza
and Gwebu business centres.
"I am challenging the police in
Manicaland to come to me and I will
show them the people who have been
brutalised by the policemen," Marindire
said. He said scores of MDC activists
have fled their homes to other
towns.Two months ago, about 20 heavily armed
policemen raided Morgan
Tsvangirai's rural home in Buhera North and severely
assaulted his
workers.The deputy officer-in-charge at Murambinda Police
Station who
identified himself as Assistant Inspector Ngorima, refused to
comment on the
matter, saying he was new in the area.
Daily News
CIO arrest Libyan behind Zimbabwe oil deal
8/15/02 9:21:08 AM (GMT +2)
Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief
Reporter
YOUSEF Murgham, a former counsellor at the Libyan Embassy
in Zimbabwe
was on Tuesday arrested by the Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) for
allegedly compromising national security, his lawyer, Jonathan
Samkange said
yesterday.
Murgham, 43, is currently being held at
Hatfield Police Station,
Samkange and the diplomat's family
confirmed.
Samkange said: "I can confirm that Murgham was
arrested by one Max
Gweshe
of the CIO. The police said they arrested
him for security reasons but
my client yesterday complained that the CIO are
being used by the Libyan
Ambassador to arrest him.
The police
actually got the clearance from the CIO for me to see him."
Murgham's Zimbabwean wife, Jean, 39, yesterday said the police would
not
allow her to see her diabetic husband who needs regular medication. Jean
said
her husband was the man behind Zimbabwe's oil deal with Libya.
Daily News
Court witness accuses cops of
distortion
8/15/02 9:20:15 AM (GMT +2)
Court
Reporter
A WITNESS in the rape trial of apostolic sect leader
Godfrey Nzira,
yesterday accused the police in Chitungwiza of distorting her
statement on
the instances pertaining to her alleged rape by the
accused.
"I gave the police an original statement which
is different from the
present statement which I was shown and made to sign at
the last minute,"
said the woman when Nzira's trial resumed yesterday. "I
pointed out to the
officer who brought the typed version to me at home that
the statement was
wrong.
"He said he did not have time to type
the corrections. He advised me
to make the corrections in court and I signed
the statement on the
understanding that I could correct the statement in
court." She allegedly
told prosecutor Vivian Mandizvidza about the
inaccuracies before she gave
her evidence at the start of the
trial.
The woman alleged Nzira, the leader of the Johanne Masowe
Chishanu
Apostolic sect, raped her four times at the sect's shrine between
December
2001 and May this year.
She said Nzira threatened her
with a bizarre illness if she reported
the matter to anyone. During
cross-examination by Nzira's lawyer, Wilson
Manase, she alleged the rape took
place when she was living at the shrine
where Nzira was treating her for an
ailment which had left her partially
paralysed.
Asked why she
did not immediately report to her husband, the woman
said: "It was not an
easy thing to do. I first had to prepare myself for
what would happen if I
told my husband as he might have turned violent or
divorced me."
The trial continues today.
Daily News
Dollar continues to crash on the black
market
8/15/02 9:18:49 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE Zimbabwe dollar has over the past few days continued
to crash
against major currencies on the thriving parallel market, despite
the
government's threats to tighten foreign exchange
regulations.
After suffering a temporary setback, the US
greenback is now fetching
up to $750 on the parallel market, while the
British pound, whose official
exchange rate is $78, is now pegged at $1 000
on the black market. Illegal
foreign currency dealers have defied the
government's threats to clamp down
on their activities.
A market
analyst told The Daily News yesterday the parallel market
would continue to
survive in the absence of devaluation as this was the only
way the export
market could be kept alive.
He said most businesses, including
parastatals and multinational
companies, were now getting their foreign
currency requirements on the
parallel market because most banks did not have
hard currency.
He said that recently there had been a marked
increase in the number
of illegal foreign currency dealers, which he said
would make it very
difficult for the government to control the illegal
market.
Most analysts say speculative buying and selling of foreign
currency
has fuelled the black market, which reached a record high when the
US dollar
traded at Z$800 while sterling fetched Z$1 200, and the rand
Z$75
MSNBC
Zimbabwe police charge opposition youth
leader
HARARE, Aug. 15 - Zimbabwean police said on Thursday they
had charged an
opposition youth leader for allegedly discussing the overthrow
of President
Robert Mugabe's government.
Nelson Chamisa, youth
chairman for the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), had handed himself
over to police on Wednesday and was later released
after being charged, said
police spokesman Andrew Phiri.
Chamisa was charged under a section of
the Public Order and Security
Act for allegedly seeking to unseat a
government by unconstitutional means.
''He is alleged to have held
several meetings where subversive
material was being discussed,'' Phiri
added. Police would proceed by way of
summons on the matter.
Chamisa was not available for comment on Thursday.
The new security
act was signed into law by Mugabe before
presidential elections which he won
in March.
Critics say the act was aimed at handcuffing the opposition
ahead of
the polls condemned by some Western nations as fraudulent.
Mugabe's
supporters say the election was fair.
Zimbabwe is facing
its worst political and economic crisis since
independence from Britain in
1980.
On the eve of the March polls, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
two
senior party colleagues were accused under the new security act of
plotting
to kill Mugabe. Their trial date has been set for November
11.
The three men deny the charges, which are based on a secretly
filmed
meeting between Tsvangirai and a Canadian security company employed by
the
Zimbabwe government. The defendants say the video tape was doctored
to
misrepresent a conversation led by the Canadian advisers.
Formed
in 1999, the MDC emerged as the strongest challenge to
Mugabe's ruling
ZANU-PF party when it won nearly half the contested seats at
parliamentary
elections held in June 2000.
The opposition says it would have won the
2000 polls had it not been
for a violent campaign it blamed on ruling party
supporters.
Thursday, 15 August, 2002, 12:54 GMT 13:54 UK
Zimbabwe seek to co-host World
Cup
The Rufaro Stadium is one of Zimbabwe's
best
 |
|
|
|
By Steve Vickers
BBC Sport Online in Harare |
 |
|
The Zimbabwe Football Association intends to approach the South African
Football Association to propose a joint bid to host the 2010 World Cup.
Zifa chairman Leo Mugabe has said he plans to meet with Safa officials in
Johannesburg on Friday.
Although Zimbabwe is facing growing international political isolation
following the March presidential elections, Zifa is serious about the bid.
"Things are at an early stage, but the intention is there to co-host," said
Mugabe.
The biggest football tournament that Zimbabwe has ever staged was the
eight-nation All-Africa Games competition in 1995.
Failed bids
Zifa lost the right to host the 2000 Nations Cup after failing to provide the
Confederation of African Football with a government guarantee of financial
backing.
Caf was not convinced that the stadiums to be used for the Nations Cup would
be ready in time for the tournament.
But a defiant Mugabe revealed that Zifa will propose the construction of new
stadiums in the tourist resort towns of Victoria Falls and Kariba.
Leo Mugabe says the bid is
serious
|
"There are already first-class hotel facilities there, we
have stadiums and hotels in Harare and Bulawayo, and we also would upgrade
Sakubva stadium in Mutare."
Much of Sakubva stadium is currently in ruins after sections of the ground
were demolished ahead of renovations that should have taken place before the
2000 Nations Cup.
Zimbabwe is co-hosting the 2003 cricket World Cup with South Africa and
Kenya, and there has been some political pressure for the games to be moved away
from Zimbabwe.
Economist
The great terrain
robbery
Aug 15th 2002 | CONCESSION, ZIMBABWE
From The Economist print
edition
Whites are not the only
victims, and land is not the only asset being grabbed
Get article
background
COLIN SHAND is a typical
white Zimbabwean farmer. He's 58, tanned, rugged and jocular. He wears short
beige shorts, and he keeps two hunting rifles, a shotgun and a shiny chrome
revolver in his gun cabinet. He is deeply politically incorrect: he openly
admits that he would not want his daughter to marry a black man. But until
recently, he provided jobs and homes for 100 black Zimbabweans, who in turn
supported more than 200 dependants. Now, his land has been seized by a rather
smaller number of “settlers”, his workers have fled with their families, and Mr
Shand has been ordered to leave his home. The deadline for his eviction passed
last week, but he ignored it, locked his farmyard gate and hunkered down. He has
not needed his Colt .45 since he fought against black liberation in the 1970s,
but he fears he may need it again.
Robert Mugabe's war
against white farmers is entering its final phase. For two years, the Zimbabwean
president's supporters have staged “spontaneous” invasions of white-owned
farmland, seizing plots, beating up farmworkers and enjoying total immunity from
prosecution. Now, 95% of the country's 4,500 commercial farms have been
earmarked for seizure without compensation. Like Mr Shand, most farmers were
legally obliged to leave their homes last week. Some hoped that Mr Mugabe might
relent a little in a televised speech he gave on August 12th, to commemorate the
liberation war. But they were disappointed. “We brook no impediment,” he said,
“and we will certainly suffer no avoidable delays.”
The president says he is
simply reclaiming for poor blacks the land that was stolen from their ancestors.
But the recipients have often been his far-from-poor cronies. He promises that
the new farmers will be in situ in time for the new planting season in
October. But beneficiaries of past takeovers, who rarely had much farming
experience, have allowed irrigation systems to crumble and once-fertile fields
to revert to barren bush. Cereal production has fallen by two-thirds over the
past two years, partly because of drought, but mainly because the most
productive farmers, who have traditionally prevented drought from turning to
famine, are hiding by their gun cabinets. Half of Zimbabwe's 12m people need
food aid, according to the World Food Programme.
Justice for Agriculture,
a pressure group, estimates that 60% of farmers are defying their eviction
notices. The Herald, a government mouthpiece, says that most have left.
No one really knows. It is unlikely, given shortages of fuel and competence,
that the government could evict all the farmers in a swift and orderly fashion.
But they could easily murder a few to encourage the rest to flee. Since 2000, Mr
Mugabe's heavies have killed 11 farmers and tortured thousands of farmworkers.
Farmers fear they are poised for a final shove.
But Mr Mugabe's terror
campaign costs money. The militia need to be paid, transported and kept
supplied. The police and army need to be rewarded for their loyalty. Where will
the old despot find the cash? His regime has never got by merely by levying
taxes on income and the like. Aid used to keep it afloat, but this has now dried
up, barring the odd handout from Libya's Muammar Qaddafi. So now Mr Mugabe is
filching his subjects' savings, partly by printing money, and partly by more
direct means.
The chief of these means
is a pensions-grab almost as daring as his land-grab. Private pension funds are
obliged to “invest” 45% of their assets in treasury bills that pay 25% a year.
Since inflation is 114%, this amounts to confiscation.
To recap: an
illegitimate government is stealing its people's life savings to keep itself in
power, so that it can continue implementing its ruinous policies. It is as if
someone took out a mortgage on your house and used the cash to pay thugs to burn
it down. Unless most of Mr Mugabe's policies are reversed, Zimbabwe will be left
with no savings, and a dramatically reduced income. If the intention is to
revert to a feudal society, where peasants scratch a mean subsistence and can be
thrown off their land at the whim of their political overlords, Mr Mugabe is
doing well.
Meanwhile, Mr Shand is
feeling tired and nervous. Finally, the strain of listening for approaching
footsteps grows too much, so he switches on television and watches a rugby match
at full volume. “It's like waiting for a war to start,” he says.
BBC
| Thursday, 15
August, 2002, 16:11 GMT 17:11 UK
Zimbabwe farmers to appear in court
Farmers refuse to turn their backs on their
land
White farmers in Zimbabwe say that as many as 50 of them
have been ordered to appear in court on Friday, charged with not leaving their
land.
|
|
 |
Zimbabwe's land reform
2000: 4,000 whites own 70% of prime land
1890-1980: Black peasants were moved to less fertile areas during the
colonial area
March 2000: "War veterans" occupy white-owned farms
2000-2002: Several white farmers and black workers killed during
violence
9 August 2002: 3,000 white farmers must leave their homes
|
|
Farmers in the Gwanda area in south-eastern Zimbabwe say they were visited by
the police, who served them with summonses to appear before magistrates.
The farmers say that many of them have already challenged their evictions
through the courts, but that these are new charges.
About two-thirds of nearly 3,000 white farmers who were told to leave their
homes last week are thought to have ignored the deadline.
Tension has been mounting in Zimbabwe since Wednesday as pro-government
militants began to force defiant farmers to leave their land.
At least one white farmer was evicted from his property after a group of
militants seized his farm north of the capital, Harare.
In a separate incident, another farmer returned to her farm in the eastern
district of Marondera after spending a few days away and found her property
occupied.
But most of the farmers are reported to have stayed put, waiting to see what
action would be taken against them.
The government, however, says that the occupations have been staged by the
farmers in order to increase international pressure on Zimbabwe.
"We are fully aware of the gimmick that is going on and these impostors are
being made to pose as if they were war veterans," Lands and Agriculture Minister
Joseph Made told state television.
Click here to read the diary
In south-east Zimbabwe, five farmers left their land early on Tuesday after
local officials, police and soldiers warned them that they were violating the
eviction orders, the Associated Press news agency reported.
In another incident, a farm owner and his workers in the Banket tobacco and
corn district were shot at by a militant in an effort to drive them away, a
farmers representative said.
Four other farmers were said to be under pressure from militants to leave.
On Monday, Mr Mugabe repeated that all farmers must leave this month, so that
black farmers could move in and prepare the land before the rainy season begins
in October.
Production down
Foreign donors say the land reform programme has contributed to Zimbabwe's
food crisis.
Up to half of the population - six million people - need food aid this year,
aid agencies say.
Since March 2000, many white-owned farms have been occupied by government
supporters.
Eleven white farmers have been killed, along with an unknown number of their
black workers.
The disruption to farming has dramatically cut production of the staple food,
maize, and Zimbabwe's major export - tobacco.
Much of Zimbabwe's best land is owned by whites as a result of colonial-era
policies. |
Zimbabwe's judicial system in tatters after years of government
assaults
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Aug. 15 -
While Zimbabwe's white farmers waited
nervously last week to be thrown off
their land, an unexpected court ruling
appeared to save many of them by
invalidating hundreds of eviction orders.
But like so many other
court rulings, this one was completely ignored
by President Robert Mugabe's
government, and top Cabinet ministers have
continued to demand farmers
immediately leave their land.
''It isn't surprising,'' said Jenni
Williams, spokeswoman for the
white farmers group Justice for Agriculture.
''In the past, (officials) have
just paid lip service to the laws, and on the
ground it has absolutely made
no difference.''
Since political
violence mainly blamed on government supporters began
in 2000, Zimbabwe's
once respected judiciary has been utterly marginalized.
The government
has ignored a raft of rulings it dislikes and
pressured judges it considers
critical of its policies to resign. Most other
judges have stopped ruling
against the government, local legal observers
said.
''The
independence of the judiciary is gone,'' said Lovemore Madhuku,
head of the
National Constitutional Assembly, which is fighting for
constitutional reform
in Zimbabwe. ''I think some judges genuinely fear for
their
lives.''
In the past few months, a court decision throwing out new
election
laws was brushed aside, a foreign journalist was ordered deported
minutes
after being acquitted of violating media laws and the justice
minister
simply ignored his three-month jail sentence for contempt of
court.
Efforts to suppress the judiciary began more than two years
ago, when
the government outlined its plans for seizing white-owned farms
for
redistribution to landless blacks and sanctioned ruling party
militants'
often violent occupation of many of those farms.
The
courts repeatedly ordered the government to remove the militants
from the
farms and restore law and order. The government refused, saying
land
redistribution was a political, not legal, issue.
''The courts can do
what they want. They are not courts for our
people and we shall not even be
defending ourselves in these courts,''
Mugabe said at the time.
In
November 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the government's land
seizure
plan was illegal and unconstitutional.
Soon after, hundreds of thugs
from Mugabe's ruling party stormed the
court, dancing behind the judges'
benches and chanting, ''Kill the judges.''
Police stood by, and no one was
arrested.
Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay was forced into early
retirement last
year after the government said it could not guarantee judges'
safety.
Several other critical judges were also replaced with ruling
party
loyalists.
''Any judge who has been brave enough to take
positions against
government institutions has been harassed and intimidated
into resigning,''
said Ashwin Trikamjee, a member of the International Bar
Association's human
rights institute.
Now, on the rare occasions
now when the courts rule against the
government, it is usually in cases too
obvious to have been decided any
other way, many local lawyers
said.
The government has ignored those rulings anyway.
In
February, the Supreme Court overturned new election laws the
opposition said
disenfranchised their supporters and made vote rigging
easier.
The
government called the ruling ''a rotten fish,'' and days later,
Mugabe
reinstated the laws with a presidential decree. Under those laws, he
was
declared the victor in March elections that many international
observers
condemned as intentionally biased to ensure his victory.
Despite the obstacles, Justice for Agriculture says it has no choice
but to
contest the evictions in Zimbabwe's courts.
''We can only have the
moral high ground if we continue to do the
usual when faced with the insane
or unusual,'' Williams said.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe begins to summon white farmers to court over defied land
evictions
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARARE, Zimbabwe, Aug. 15 - The
government of Zimbabwe took its first formal
steps Thursday to begin evicting
white farmers who for the past week have
been defying an order to leave their
land, a white farmers' group said.
At least five farmers in the
western province of Matabeleland
received papers summoning them to court
Friday to answer charges they
ignored orders to get off their farms by
midnight Aug. 8, according to the
group Justice for Agriculture.
As
many as 50 others had been told they would be asked to appear in
court soon
in western Zimbabwe to answer similar charges, said Jenni
Williams, a
spokeswoman for the group.
The landowners were told they risked arrest
if they refused to go to
court, she said. Defiant farmers face a maximum
penalty of up to two years
in jail and a fine.
Hundreds of white
farmers have been defying eviction orders under a
government program to
confiscate white-owned land for redistribution to
blacks.
Williams,
whose group has called on white landowners to challenge
evictions in court,
said farmers across the country expected to be charged
under amended land
seizure laws passed by ruling party lawmakers earlier
this year.
Since the deadline for 2,900 farmers to leave their land passed last
week,
ruling party militants made at least a dozen attempts to force farmers
from
their land.
On Wednesday, about 60 armed ruling party militants and
blacks who
have been promised land by the government surrounded the Hinde
home near
Bindura, 55 miles north of Harare, in a daylong siege.
The militants smashed windows and dragged some belongings out of the
house
before Terry Hinde, 59, his wife Sue, 58, and their son Christopher,
32, were
allowed to leave late Wednesday with a truck laden with household
goods,
Williams said.
The government, however, denied it was allowing
militants and black
settlers to enforce evictions, the state Herald newspaper
reported Thursday.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made suggested farmers
themselves
arranged sieges of their land to gain international
sympathy.
''The reports are total lies. They are the usual
fabrications by the
international media and white farmers. The so-called
militants are groups of
people being hired by desperate farmers to cause
confusion. We will never
allow ourselves to be drawn into such a thing,''
Made said.
The government has targeted 95 percent of properties owned
by 4,000
white farmers for confiscation under its land reform
program.
It says the land seizures are a final effort to correct
colonial-era
imbalances in land ownership by giving white-owned farms to
blacks.
Critics say it is part of the increasingly authoritarian
government's
effort to maintain power after more than two years of economic
chaos and
political violence mainly blamed on the ruling party.
The
farm disruptions came as half of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people
face a severe
hunger crisis, according to the U.N. World Food Program. The
WFP blames the
crisis on drought combined with the agricultural chaos caused
by the
seizures.
On Tuesday, five farmers in southeastern Zimbabwe left their
land
after local officials, armed police and soldiers warned them they
were
violating the eviction laws. That was seen as an action by rogue
officials
as the government denied enforcing any evictions yet.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe begins to summon white farmers to court over defied land
evictions
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARARE, Zimbabwe, Aug. 15 - The
government of Zimbabwe took its first formal
steps Thursday to begin evicting
white farmers who for the past week have
been defying an order to leave their
land, a white farmers' group said.
At least five farmers in the
western province of Matabeleland
received papers summoning them to court
Friday to answer charges they
ignored orders to get off their farms by
midnight Aug. 8, according to the
group Justice for Agriculture.
As
many as 50 others had been told they would be asked to appear in
court soon
in western Zimbabwe to answer similar charges, said Jenni
Williams, a
spokeswoman for the group.
The landowners were told they risked arrest
if they refused to go to
court, she said. Defiant farmers face a maximum
penalty of up to two years
in jail and a fine.
Hundreds of white
farmers have been defying eviction orders under a
government program to
confiscate white-owned land for redistribution to
blacks.
Williams,
whose group has called on white landowners to challenge
evictions in court,
said farmers across the country expected to be charged
under amended land
seizure laws passed by ruling party lawmakers earlier
this year.
Since the deadline for 2,900 farmers to leave their land passed last
week,
ruling party militants made at least a dozen attempts to force farmers
from
their land.
On Wednesday, about 60 armed ruling party militants and
blacks who
have been promised land by the government surrounded the Hinde
home near
Bindura, 55 miles north of Harare, in a daylong siege.
The militants smashed windows and dragged some belongings out of the
house
before Terry Hinde, 59, his wife Sue, 58, and their son Christopher,
32, were
allowed to leave late Wednesday with a truck laden with household
goods,
Williams said.
The government, however, denied it was allowing
militants and black
settlers to enforce evictions, the state Herald newspaper
reported Thursday.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made suggested farmers
themselves
arranged sieges of their land to gain international
sympathy.
''The reports are total lies. They are the usual
fabrications by the
international media and white farmers. The so-called
militants are groups of
people being hired by desperate farmers to cause
confusion. We will never
allow ourselves to be drawn into such a thing,''
Made said.
The government has targeted 95 percent of properties owned
by 4,000
white farmers for confiscation under its land reform
program.
It says the land seizures are a final effort to correct
colonial-era
imbalances in land ownership by giving white-owned farms to
blacks.
Critics say it is part of the increasingly authoritarian
government's
effort to maintain power after more than two years of economic
chaos and
political violence mainly blamed on the ruling party.
The
farm disruptions came as half of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people
face a severe
hunger crisis, according to the U.N. World Food Program. The
WFP blames the
crisis on drought combined with the agricultural chaos caused
by the
seizures.
On Tuesday, five farmers in southeastern Zimbabwe left their
land
after local officials, armed police and soldiers warned them they
were
violating the eviction laws. That was seen as an action by rogue
officials
as the government denied enforcing any evictions yet.
Daily News
Cattle Producers' Association chairman faces tough
choices
8/15/02 9:50:56 AM (GMT +2)
Farming
Editor
DIRK Odendaal, 53, the new chairman for the Cattle
Producers'
Association (CPA) takes office at a time when he is expected to
vacate his
Gutu property and when the commercial beef industry is
collapsing.
The commercial beef herd, which totalled about 1,3
million last year,
has dwindled to 800 000 this year due to a massive
destocking exercise.
Cattle producers have been slaughtering and
selling their livestock,
especially the breeding stock , in the past year
because of uncertainties
caused by the land reform programme.
About 3 000 mainly white commercial farmers were ordered to vacate
their
farms by 9 August as part of the government's land reform programme
aimed at
resettling landless blacks. In an interview, Odendaal said like any
other
commercial cattle farmer, he had reduced his cattle herd from 1 200 to
300
because he faced an uncertain future.
Odendaal said he, however,
would not give up farming but would seek
dialogue with the
government.
He said: "The first thing I am going to do is to
negotiate with
settlers and government officials so I can remain on the
property. I am not
winding up and I intend to stay on the farm as it is my
only place. There is
about 80 percent destocking in Matabeleland and I want
to encourage the
farmers to remain on the properties to rebuild the national
herd."
He is among the commercial farmers who have said they would
not leave
although they have been given eviction notices.
About
1 740 commercial farmers, out of the 3 000 served with eviction
notices
defied orders for them to vacate their farms by last Friday.
Odendaal said while some farmers were spared the eviction notices,
those
remaining had their farms reduced to sizes not viable to carry out
cattle
production.
He said: "Farm sizes of between 400 and 500 hectares
proposed by the
government are not viable for a cattle unit in ranching areas
which are
drought-prone. If one has 1 000 head of cattle on such land sizes,
it will
not be viable. There are some farmers with 25 000 head of cattle and
they
will then be forced to destock if they are to operate on small pieces
of
land."
The commercial beef industry has also experienced
problems in the past
year because of the suspension of exports as a result of
a foot-and-mouth
disease outbreak last August. Odendaal said cattle producers
were forced to
sell on the local market whose prices were low and
controlled.
Daily News
MP briefly detained for allegedly diverting food
aid
8/15/02 9:31:39 AM (GMT +2)
From Zerubabel
Mudzingwa
POLICE in Gokwe last week briefly detained Gokwe Central
Member of
Parliament, Lovemore Mupukuta, after he allegedly diverted six
tonnes of
drought relief maize meant for starving villagers in Masoro
communal lands.
Mupukuta was apprehended at the Grain
Marketing Board depot at Gokwe
growth point on 7 August but was later
released without charge.
Police said they were tipped off by GMB
officials and intercepted a
tractor carrying the grain as it drove past the
Gokwe district hospital.
The maize had been allocated for
distribution in Chisina Ward. "We
were surprised when the MP turned round and
said the grain belonged to a
woman only identified as Nyenya, yet it had been
released in his name," said
the GMB official who declined to be
named.
GMB officials confiscated the grain but a few hours later
Mupukuta
allegedly returned and ordered that the grain be given to
Nyenya.
"We had to comply with the order for fear of victimisation.
We still
do not know whether the intended beneficiaries eventually got the
maize,"
the official said. Last month, Mupukuta caused a stir at the growth
point
when he led a group of mainly Zanu PF vendors in attacking a police
vehicle
carrying wares police had impounded from them.
Police
were forced to abandon the raid on illegal vendors selling
sugar, cooking oil
and maize grain at inflated prices.
Meanwhile, hundreds of starving
villagers living near Loreto High
School in rural Silobela are reportedly
streaming to the boarding school
daily in search of leftovers. More than 100
students are having holiday
classes at the school.
"The number
of villagers increased last week when we had a group of
trainee census
enumerators camped at the school", said a teacher at the
Roman Catholic-run
secondary school.
George Muzimba, the MDC vice secretary for
Midlands North confirmed
the incident and said most of the villagers
scrambling for leftovers at the
school were MDC members denied government
food aid by Zanu PF councillors.
Talk about being intensively brainwashed - ZANU PF are so wrapped up in their lies and deceipt ................ :
Harare – A Zimbabwean cabinet
minister yesterday accused white farmers of bringing in impostors to evict them
from their farms to attract attention and paint a bleak picture of the situation
in the country. "We are fully aware of the gimmick that is going on and these
impostors are being made to pose as if they were war veterans," Lands and
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told state television. "Those impostors (are)
brought in by the farmers to paint a very bleak picture. But the law enforcement
agents are there in full force," he said. "It's the usual case of demonising the
war veterans," he said. Made's comments came as landless blacks tried to evict a
white farmer, Terry Hinde, from his land in the first such reported instance
since a deadline set by President Robert Mugabe's government expired last week.
Mugabe says the land reforms aim to correct colonial-era injustices that left
Zimbabwe's tiny white minority owning most of the best farmland by seizing their
farms and redistributing the land to blacks.
And more ......
Zim Poised to Meet Tobacco Target
>
The
Herald (Harare)
August 15, 2002
Posted
to the web August 15, 2002
George Chisoko
Zimbabwe is on target to producing over 200 million-kg of
flue-cured tobacco despite the insistence by the white dominated Zimbabwe
Tobacco Association that only half the target crop size will be achieved.
There had been fears that the acquisition of land from white
commercial farmers would result in a knock in flue-cured tobacco production as
the new farmers settle down on the land.
However, the creation of over 54 000 new commercial farmers
through land reform and Government's insistence that those allocated tobacco
land should produce the crop, should help the country maintain its position, as
one of the biggest producers of flue-cured tobacco in the world.
Brazil, China and the United States are the leading tobacco
producers in the world. Brazil's production comes from smallholder farmer on
small pieces of land.
In forecasting a reduced crop size, the ZTA had based its
output on tobacco seed sales, which currently show 187,4 kg had been sold as of
June compared to 287,9 kg last season. Assuming all the seed was planted and a
yield of 2 700 kg/ha, about 100 million kg would be produced.
While the ZTA painted a gloomy tobacco production, the
association apparently contradicted itself by saying there were indications new
farmers would grow a bigger dry-land crop, which would make up for the lost
irrigated crop. This is precisely what the Government has repeatedly said.
In an interview yesterday, the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Dr Joseph Made said it was impractical to
base production on seed sales, as not all farmers planted the seed they bought
the previous season.
"What this means is that we get the wrong figures once we
base production on seed sales. Some farmers bought seed last year and did not
plant it and so the June figures as provided by the ZTA do not reflect the
reality," said Dr Made.
The minister said flue-cured tobacco production hinged
largely on the dry-land crop coming from the new farmers and some white
commercial farmers. "We have assigned the Agricultural and Rural Development
Authority and some white commercial farmers to produce seedlings and this should
see the dry-land crop coming through."
The Farmers' Development Trust, which provides training and
extension to indigenous tobacco farmers, said the country was on target to
producing 250 million kg of flue-cured tobacco.
Mr Lovegot Tendengu, the FDT's executive director, conceded
that not much would come out of the irrigated crop but that the bulk of the crop
would be produced from the dry-land crop. "As FDT, we are busy with seedling
production. We know that Arda, the Tobacco Research Board and some white
commercial farmers are doing the same. So this issue about doubts on tobacco
seedlings is just a dream for we have the capacity to produce them," said Mr
Tendengu.
The FDT director remained emphatic that a crop size of 250
million kg would be achieved.
"The new and old farmers out there are raring to go. One
needs to be out there to see the kind of preparation that is taking place. The
support from the Government is there through the $8,5 billion inputs' scheme.
Statements that production will tumble can only come from detractors of land
reform," said Mr Tendengu.
Farmers last season produced about 170 million-kg of
flue-cured tobacco at a time they had again projected a crop size of around 100
million-kg.
The Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union president, Mr
Thomas Nherera dismissed the ZTA's projection of below 100 million kg, saying it
would not be a miracle if 200 million-kg were produced. He said if the early
crop had not been affected by the delay to produce seedlings, production would
certainly have risen to between 220 and 250 million kg.
"We should not base production on seed sales as there is a
big black seedlings producer base and certainly there are some white producing
seedlings and there is no way the country can be found wanting in this regard,"
said Mr Nherera.
However, as the new farmers settle down and acclimatise on
the new land, a temporary knock in agricultural production cannot be ruled out
completely. Once they have settled down, production should pick up
tremendously.
An official in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement expressed concern over the unwillingness of indigenous farmers to
form and join farming associations.
"Such associations are good in that they benefit the
farmers. The problem with our people is that they loathe paying subscriptions
but we must certainly urge them to join associations," said the official.
Such associations would help the new and old farmers use
barns as groups.
