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'Zanu-PF bigwigs extort protection fees from white farmers'
26 Jul 2017 at 06:26hrs | Views
ZANU-PF youth in Manicaland province have accused ruling party bigwigs of receiving 10% of farm produce sold by white commercial farmers in the area as protection fee.
Speaking at an inter-district meeting in Mutare recently, the party's provincial youth chairman, Mubuso Chinguno, threatened to name and shame the bigwigs, some of whom he claimed were stakeholders in the remaining white-owned commercial farms.
"In Nyanga, Chipinge, Makoni and Chimanimani, there are some white commercial farmers and some of our leaders are getting paid 10% from total produce by white commercial farmers as protection fee and you leaders, you are claiming they [white farmers] are not going anywhere."
"Some of the leaders are even stakeholders in those farms. President Robert Mugabe did not give you that ministerial and legislator position to protect the white commercial farmers. If it was not for (SMEs) minister Sithembiso Nyoni, our guest of honour, I would have named them today," he said amid wild cheers from hundreds of youth at the meeting.
Chinguno demanded that the remaining white commercial farmers in the province be pushed out and their land allocated to deserving indigenous farmers.
"We hear some leaders saying that there are some white commercials who are supporting the party. No, there is no good white commercial farmer here. They are all the same. You are defending them because you are getting 10% shares," he said.
"We have been conducting fundraising activities to fund some party programmes, but no commercial farmer has given us even a single dollar, the policy is clear that we should get that land," he said.
Chinguno also accused some government officials in various districts in the province of nepotism and hoarding vast tracts of land and gold claims for speculative purposes.
"In some districts, some officials are giving farms to their daughters, sons, girlfriends and wives and we are going to stop that," he said.
Speaking at an inter-district meeting in Mutare recently, the party's provincial youth chairman, Mubuso Chinguno, threatened to name and shame the bigwigs, some of whom he claimed were stakeholders in the remaining white-owned commercial farms.
"In Nyanga, Chipinge, Makoni and Chimanimani, there are some white commercial farmers and some of our leaders are getting paid 10% from total produce by white commercial farmers as protection fee and you leaders, you are claiming they [white farmers] are not going anywhere."
"Some of the leaders are even stakeholders in those farms. President Robert Mugabe did not give you that ministerial and legislator position to protect the white commercial farmers. If it was not for (SMEs) minister Sithembiso Nyoni, our guest of honour, I would have named them today," he said amid wild cheers from hundreds of youth at the meeting.
Chinguno demanded that the remaining white commercial farmers in the province be pushed out and their land allocated to deserving indigenous farmers.
"We hear some leaders saying that there are some white commercials who are supporting the party. No, there is no good white commercial farmer here. They are all the same. You are defending them because you are getting 10% shares," he said.
"We have been conducting fundraising activities to fund some party programmes, but no commercial farmer has given us even a single dollar, the policy is clear that we should get that land," he said.
Chinguno also accused some government officials in various districts in the province of nepotism and hoarding vast tracts of land and gold claims for speculative purposes.
"In some districts, some officials are giving farms to their daughters, sons, girlfriends and wives and we are going to stop that," he said.
Source - newsday
