via Minister Made misleading the nation – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 12, 2015
ZIMBABWE is now fully in the throes of the lean agriculture season, a time when most households would have run out of grain from the previous farming season, and it is incumbent that the government works fast to avert looming starvation.
NewsDay Comment
The government has once again sent around the begging bowl, yet only a few months ago, Agriculture minister Joseph Made said there would be no need for food aid.
Made’s previous statement on the successes of farming seasons have all been way off the mark and it boggles the mind why President Robert Mugabe keeps him despite such bungling.
Importantly though, this year marks 15 years after the land reform programme, yet the “new” farmers still cannot feed the nation.
Zimbabwe cannot continue begging for food aid from the very people that were kicked off the farms and this betrays the essence of the land reform, it was haphazard, vindictive and unplanned, leading to the current problems we face.
No one doubts the need for the land reform programme, but it would have been more beneficial if the government conducted it in a more structured manner, where people with the capacity should have been first in line to receive farms, rather than getting land via a system that entrenches patronage and negates productivity.
The United States and the United Kingdom last week provided money for food aid and rather than be the gracious recipients, Mugabe and his government must be ashamed that they are receiving help from the very people they accuse of trying to unseat them.
That Zimbabwe is even begging for food aid should also serve as more embarrassment, as government officials are ever too eager to remind the public of what they describe as the success of the land reform programme.
This year, officials were quick to blame food shortages on droughts, but if the government was any sincere, they would know the blame lies squarely with them.
While acknowledging the effects of the drought, Zimbabweans should demand answers on what happened with irrigation equipment that was on the farms the new farmers invaded.
Also, knowing the cyclical nature of droughts, the government should have been able to plan for such an eventuality.
Instead of serving us with copious doses of propaganda, the government should have been proactive in handling the food situation, rather than relying on donors again.
It is disconcerting to learn that Zimbabwe will be renting out some of its silos to Zambia, a clear indication that the once spilling granaries are empty and will not be filled anytime soon.
The Zanu PF government has once again displayed an astounding lack of forward thinking and vision, leaving Zimbabweans on the verge of starvation and at the mercy of donors, who Mugabe wants us to believe are the country’s enemies.
We urge the government to already start thinking about the 2016/17 agriculture season and beyond, as this is the only way they can guarantee food security rather than this knee-jerk response, where they only respond after failure.
Zimbabweans deserve a pro-active government rather than a reactive one.
COMMENTS
It’s time we ALL put “political correctness” aside and called a “spade a spade”. The majority of you are ALL sitting there hoping that this phase we are going through eventually passes over and that we can then get on with our lives and in turn take the country back to its former glory. Not only are you ALL delusional, but you’ve become “yes men”. To those of you who think we can change things via the ballot box, are dreaming, it will never happen. If you think this Tsangarai character is going to change things, dream on, he was bought a long time ago and is no different to Mugable. The true fact of the matter is that the Shona’s are ALL responsible for the demise of our country. They voted Mugabe into power in the first place, they were all responsible in one way or another for looting, plundering, pillaging and systematically destroying our parastatals! Remember how everything worked when it was still Rhodesia, up to the time we handed over to these thieves in 1980!!!! Every single Shona, in one way or another was directly or indirectly involved in the farm invasions, which in turn led to our current situation.
There is no way this current bunch of thieves are going to relinquish power to an alternative political party that easily. They have been so brainwashed into believing that nothing exists outside of ZANU that they will do anything and everything to remain in power. They have become so accustomed to looting, pinching, pillaging, plundering and thieving via any deceitful means of doing so that it has affected our daily lives in more ways than one.
There is only ONE solution to resolving this despicable scenario, and I’m afraid to say it’s not via the ballot box as we’ve tried that on many occasions and it hasn’t worked!!!!
According to the feedback I’ve received, I believe the alternative method, if planned correctly, would all be over in ten days, with no more than a few hundred casualties. We have no other alternative, we need to do something about it NOW!!!! Where there is a will, there is a way.
100% Bushcat. Confirm you are NOT living in Zimbabwe! By the way, we sure enjoyed yr comments on Zimeye (assuming u are the same Bushcat!)
MAD MADE