Opinion / Columnist
The West cannot stop our land revolution
11 Mar 2015 at 13:03hrs | Views
During the recent 21st February Movement celebrations in Victoria Falls, President Mugabe raised a ray of hope for the landless citizens of this republic.
The President, who severed relations with the West after he embarked on the land reform revolution to settle over 300 000 households, hinted that the land reform would continue. He said the safaris, which are mostly in the hands of the former colonialists, would not be spared.
That pronouncement is commendable. The land reform should continue until everybody who needs a piece of land gets it. There are still plenty of landless Zimbabweans with capacity to produce for this country. Some of these landless Zimbabweans were too young to get a piece of land when the revolution began in 2000.
Some of the landless citizens were in foreign countries on national duties while others were at school where some of them were trained in various aspects of agriculture. Giving farming land to these experts will ensure the nation's food security. Surely, with experts owning farms, the nation can once again become the breadbasket of the region.
It is unfortunate that some people who benefitted from the land reform closed out other needy people. Getting a farm is now like looking for a needle in an ocean. The response given to land seekers by all land committees is uniform as they dismissively tell the land Zimbabweans that there are no more farms.
One wonders if this is true. Indeed, it is not true. Farms are still available to settle genuine land hungry people.
President Mugabe revealed shocking statistics of farms that are still in the ownership of white commercial farmers.
In Goromonzi district of Mashonaland East Province for instance, President Mugabe disclosed that there were still 40 white farmers. He further exposed that a few districts, in the same province, harboured 123 white farmers. With such a shocking revelation, how many more white farmers are still farming in the entire province?
Those statistics are a microcosm of the reality on the ground in the entire country. These white farmers have been operating under the protection of our political leadership.
This does not mean that the farming sector in Zimbabwe is a no go area for the whites. They must go through the same process that everybody else is going through. We know some of the beneficiaries of the land reform programme handed back the farms to the whites in a sinister and secret partnership. The farms have a face of a black man while the white man calls the shots from behind the scene.
Partnerships with whites are legal. They have been given a nod provided the relevant authorities approve them.
Most of our political leaders are guilty of protecting whites on the farms. The ordinary people are aware of these greedy politicians. They can tell you that uyu murungu wanhingi. As if that is not enough, these politicians are also multiple farm owners when other people cannot get even a five-hectare plot.
The land revolution must continue until it comes to a conclusive end. What is happening now, will at some point in future, cause another land revolution. This time it will be multiple black landowners against the landless.
In this regard, President Mugabe has unfinished business which he must conclude before he even entertain retiring. He must not leave things as they are, lest his noble revolution, that is being adored by the whole continent, is blighted.
President Mugabe should not give a hoot to Europe's vain threats. The European Union ambassador, Mr Philippe Van Damme warned President Mugabe that any renewed land reform would ruin business re-engagements between government and the bloc.
Mr Van Damme should be reminded that Zimbabwe had a life without EU's business engagements. The re-engagements efforts must not have strings attached. After all, we have developed a thick skin against the sanctions.
President Mugabe is already on the illegal sanctions, thus, there is nothing to fear anymore. We cannot sell our priceless heritage for a song. Sanctions or no sanctions, a luta continua.
President Mugabe must order a quick audit to expose this scandal. Those found guilty must forfeit all the farms under their ownership. They should be given two weeks to voluntarily surrender excess land they deviously acquired.
We have heard so many stories of unscrupulous allocation of land. Some children, as young as three years of age, are reported to have been allocated hundreds of hectares of land. The sad part of it is that a whole family, let alone the entire clan, does not own even a single farm. They are still on the arid communal land that the Smith administration forced them onto.
President Mugabe is on record saying the land policy is now one family one farm. It is no longer the usual one man/woman one farm because land is a finite resource. Everybody needs a piece of land.
There are also some people who are not worth to be called farmers, who are wasting the national resources. These people must be made to surrender the farms for they put the programme into disrepute. There is no excuse for the beneficiaries who have not tilled their land for the past 10 years.
There are also some widows who are failing to utilise the farms left by their husbands. As much as we must show empathy, this should not be at the expense of our national image and food security. Those farms should be downsized to a manageable magnitude.
The President, who severed relations with the West after he embarked on the land reform revolution to settle over 300 000 households, hinted that the land reform would continue. He said the safaris, which are mostly in the hands of the former colonialists, would not be spared.
That pronouncement is commendable. The land reform should continue until everybody who needs a piece of land gets it. There are still plenty of landless Zimbabweans with capacity to produce for this country. Some of these landless Zimbabweans were too young to get a piece of land when the revolution began in 2000.
Some of the landless citizens were in foreign countries on national duties while others were at school where some of them were trained in various aspects of agriculture. Giving farming land to these experts will ensure the nation's food security. Surely, with experts owning farms, the nation can once again become the breadbasket of the region.
It is unfortunate that some people who benefitted from the land reform closed out other needy people. Getting a farm is now like looking for a needle in an ocean. The response given to land seekers by all land committees is uniform as they dismissively tell the land Zimbabweans that there are no more farms.
One wonders if this is true. Indeed, it is not true. Farms are still available to settle genuine land hungry people.
President Mugabe revealed shocking statistics of farms that are still in the ownership of white commercial farmers.
In Goromonzi district of Mashonaland East Province for instance, President Mugabe disclosed that there were still 40 white farmers. He further exposed that a few districts, in the same province, harboured 123 white farmers. With such a shocking revelation, how many more white farmers are still farming in the entire province?
Those statistics are a microcosm of the reality on the ground in the entire country. These white farmers have been operating under the protection of our political leadership.
This does not mean that the farming sector in Zimbabwe is a no go area for the whites. They must go through the same process that everybody else is going through. We know some of the beneficiaries of the land reform programme handed back the farms to the whites in a sinister and secret partnership. The farms have a face of a black man while the white man calls the shots from behind the scene.
Partnerships with whites are legal. They have been given a nod provided the relevant authorities approve them.
Most of our political leaders are guilty of protecting whites on the farms. The ordinary people are aware of these greedy politicians. They can tell you that uyu murungu wanhingi. As if that is not enough, these politicians are also multiple farm owners when other people cannot get even a five-hectare plot.
The land revolution must continue until it comes to a conclusive end. What is happening now, will at some point in future, cause another land revolution. This time it will be multiple black landowners against the landless.
In this regard, President Mugabe has unfinished business which he must conclude before he even entertain retiring. He must not leave things as they are, lest his noble revolution, that is being adored by the whole continent, is blighted.
President Mugabe should not give a hoot to Europe's vain threats. The European Union ambassador, Mr Philippe Van Damme warned President Mugabe that any renewed land reform would ruin business re-engagements between government and the bloc.
Mr Van Damme should be reminded that Zimbabwe had a life without EU's business engagements. The re-engagements efforts must not have strings attached. After all, we have developed a thick skin against the sanctions.
President Mugabe is already on the illegal sanctions, thus, there is nothing to fear anymore. We cannot sell our priceless heritage for a song. Sanctions or no sanctions, a luta continua.
President Mugabe must order a quick audit to expose this scandal. Those found guilty must forfeit all the farms under their ownership. They should be given two weeks to voluntarily surrender excess land they deviously acquired.
We have heard so many stories of unscrupulous allocation of land. Some children, as young as three years of age, are reported to have been allocated hundreds of hectares of land. The sad part of it is that a whole family, let alone the entire clan, does not own even a single farm. They are still on the arid communal land that the Smith administration forced them onto.
President Mugabe is on record saying the land policy is now one family one farm. It is no longer the usual one man/woman one farm because land is a finite resource. Everybody needs a piece of land.
There are also some people who are not worth to be called farmers, who are wasting the national resources. These people must be made to surrender the farms for they put the programme into disrepute. There is no excuse for the beneficiaries who have not tilled their land for the past 10 years.
There are also some widows who are failing to utilise the farms left by their husbands. As much as we must show empathy, this should not be at the expense of our national image and food security. Those farms should be downsized to a manageable magnitude.
Source - John Sigauke
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