News / National
'No white person will be allowed to own land in Zim,' says Mugabe
02 Jul 2014 at 20:36hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe has declared that no white person will be allowed to own land except for companies as stipulated in the laws of the country.
Mugabe said Wednesday while launching the Model A1 Settlement Permit at Chipfundi Farm Lions' Den in Mashonaland West.
"They can own industries and companies or stay in apartments in our towns but cannot own land. We hear in some cases they are being protected by cabinet ministers and politicians within their constituencies. We will deal with that," said Mugabe.
"One of the major objectives of the liberation struggle was to evict the white settlers from the land since they had the option of going back to their countries of origin," he said.
Mugabe said that blacks had to regain the land robbed from their parents by whites.
"Unemployment to us is not as statistics would want people to believe. Those in town are double dwellers as they have a plot elsewhere from which they can make a living. Kana usina munda wekurima aaa hameno unenge uyine kwawakabva," said Mugabe, pointing out that children should be educated about the country's history, the current situation and the future.
More than 220 000 offer letters issued in the past 15 years to A1 model new farmers are set to be nullified and replaced by the new tenure permits launched by President Mugabe.
The new permits are envisaged to allow new farmers to access agricultural funding from financial institutions "if the banks see it fit".
The new permit will replace the letters or documents that where being issued by district administrators and were deemed inconsistent.
Under the new tenure document, breaches to the permit such as sub-letting, allowing the agricultural land or pastoral operations to decline to unacceptable levels or abandonment will result in the permit being cancelled after a 90 day notice in which the beneficiary can provide representations on why we the permit should not cancelled.
The permits can be inherited and women have a right to own land and will also be given the new tenure document.
The land reform exercise has been dogged by reports of multiple land ownership for speculative purposes. Critics have also pressured government to issue bankable title deeds to new land owners but this has been shot down vehemently.
Zimbabwe had some 4,000 commercial farmers before the land invasions began in early 2000. The white population had reached its peak of 296,000 peak in 1975. It dropped to 120,000 in 1999 before slipping to an estimated 50,000 in 2002.
Mugabe has been quoted at several fora venting anger at whites. "Our party must continue to strike fear in the heart of the white men, they must tremble…The white man is not indigenous to Africa. Africa is for Africans…The white man is part of "an evil alliance," Mugabe was quoted as saying at the Zanu-PF congress in December 2000.
Back in 1986, he was quoted saying the only language that the Mabhunu (whites) would understand is the language of the gun: "The more you kill, the nearer you get to your objectives."
Mugabe said Wednesday while launching the Model A1 Settlement Permit at Chipfundi Farm Lions' Den in Mashonaland West.
"They can own industries and companies or stay in apartments in our towns but cannot own land. We hear in some cases they are being protected by cabinet ministers and politicians within their constituencies. We will deal with that," said Mugabe.
"One of the major objectives of the liberation struggle was to evict the white settlers from the land since they had the option of going back to their countries of origin," he said.
Mugabe said that blacks had to regain the land robbed from their parents by whites.
"Unemployment to us is not as statistics would want people to believe. Those in town are double dwellers as they have a plot elsewhere from which they can make a living. Kana usina munda wekurima aaa hameno unenge uyine kwawakabva," said Mugabe, pointing out that children should be educated about the country's history, the current situation and the future.
More than 220 000 offer letters issued in the past 15 years to A1 model new farmers are set to be nullified and replaced by the new tenure permits launched by President Mugabe.
The new permit will replace the letters or documents that where being issued by district administrators and were deemed inconsistent.
Under the new tenure document, breaches to the permit such as sub-letting, allowing the agricultural land or pastoral operations to decline to unacceptable levels or abandonment will result in the permit being cancelled after a 90 day notice in which the beneficiary can provide representations on why we the permit should not cancelled.
The permits can be inherited and women have a right to own land and will also be given the new tenure document.
The land reform exercise has been dogged by reports of multiple land ownership for speculative purposes. Critics have also pressured government to issue bankable title deeds to new land owners but this has been shot down vehemently.
Zimbabwe had some 4,000 commercial farmers before the land invasions began in early 2000. The white population had reached its peak of 296,000 peak in 1975. It dropped to 120,000 in 1999 before slipping to an estimated 50,000 in 2002.
Mugabe has been quoted at several fora venting anger at whites. "Our party must continue to strike fear in the heart of the white men, they must tremble…The white man is not indigenous to Africa. Africa is for Africans…The white man is part of "an evil alliance," Mugabe was quoted as saying at the Zanu-PF congress in December 2000.
Back in 1986, he was quoted saying the only language that the Mabhunu (whites) would understand is the language of the gun: "The more you kill, the nearer you get to your objectives."
Source - Zim Mail
