Opinion / Columnist
President Mnangagwa and the white Zimbabwean
25 Nov 2017 at 02:33hrs | Views
Zimbabweans on the 24th of November witnessed the swearing in of a new head of state for the first time in 37 years since indipendence from Britain.His Excellence President ED Mnangagwa was sworn in front of over 60 000 guests at Harare's National Sports stadium.One of those seated in the VIP tent was British Secretary for Africa Rory Steward representing his boss UK Prime Minister Theresa May.May claimed that as Zimbabwe's oldest freind, she was happy to see peaceful developments in Zimbabwe after Zimbabwe's elderly stateman ZSE Robert Robert Mugabe resigned.Wow!Then the newly sworn President Mnangagwa dropped a bombshell,the land reform programe was irreversable but those who lost their land will be compensated.Boom!......On another note he emphasised that Zimbabwe belonged to everyone who calls it home not because of race.......ooh ok.
At least I picked something from his speech, Acie Lumumba didn't . He jockingly told bustop TV's Gonyeti that he agreed with everything the president had said but he did not pick any point. LoL
Watching the ceremony is any estimated white population of Zimbabweans which is estimated to be over 40 000 scattered around the globe.Are there still white people living in Zimbabwe after all,some people might ask?Yes, close to 50 000 whites live in Zimbabwe with 20000 of them being British citizens represented by Secretary Steward at the ceremony and close to 30 000 Zimbabwe represented by '...........' thats according to white opposition MP Eddie Cross.
Sport
White Zimbabweans are popular with elite sports like cricket,swimming and rowing.Notable figures include former English cricket coach Andy Flower, tennis player Cara Black, Olympian Kirsty Coventry and the golf Price and the cricket Price and Micheen Thorncroft.This elite sports have been hit hard by the economic meltdown in the country and that has affected their funding,they are expensive sports and they are no big sponsors as most companies closed shop.The most affected by the political situation that characterised Zimbabwe before President Mnangagwa took office is the rowing team as the Mazowe dam was confisticated by the then first family hence no training facility for an association that send two olympians to Rio in 2016.Many administrators of these sports pin their hopes on President Mnangagwa to turn around the economic that will in turn increase funding and encourage the expansion of these 'elite' sports to black communities and the poor who can not afford self funding and the cost associated with those sporting disciplines.
The Land
About 4000 of these white Zimbabweans lost their land in the fast track land reform programme of the early 2000s.Yes they were beaten,their properties confisticated without compensation and those who refused were severly tourtured.This was done all in a quest to adress imbalances brought about by colonialism.Now over 300 000 black Zimbabweans own fertile land with well connected black individuals owning mutiple farms.
Many of these white farmers up to this time have not received any compensation for the developments they made on the farms.The British government that was represented by Rory Steward promised the then Zimbabwean Premier Robert Mugabe in 1980 that they will fund the land reform programme but alaaas....... they never did.The white Zimbabwean farmers are now pinning their hopes on President Mnangagwa to compensate them for the development they made on those farms.Compensation costs for the white farmers is said to be around US$ 10 billion and Zimbabwe's annual national budget is under US $5 billion....oww yes its true.Who will pay the money?
Rory Steward made courtesy call on the new President and some hope that they discused issues to do with the economy and payment of the white farmers now can not claim they forefathers' land in 'Oxford and Kent'.Yes the land taken by ZES Mugabe belonged to the ancestors of their black counterparts who are not keen to 'buy back' their land hence Secretary Steward must explain to as to who should pay back the money? .....the Zimbabwean government of cause.CDE ADAMSKI A WHITE ZIMBABWEAN WITH A 'SINGLE' WHITE FREIND AND A THOUSAND BLACK IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN ANSWER THIS QUESTION.
The Future
Like their fellow black Zimbabweans,white Zimbabweans would want to see a Zimbabwe where no one is treated like a second class citizen as assured by His Excellence.They would also want to benefit from all programmes that are intended to benefit the general Zimbabwean populace including the right to own land or at least be allowed to enter into 50/50 patnerships with their black counterparts still retaing the ownership of land.Those who bought land after Indipendence might want to be prioritised when the compensations process starts.
They will also want to see transparency in land distribution that will see the one man one policy being replaced by the one family one farm policy to avoid a situation where individual members of elite families will own multiple farms.Lastly,white farmers were beaten,tortured and few cases of farm killings were recorded during the land reform process,properties were looted and they would want to see those that were involved appearing before a truth and reconciliation commision and find closure.
The Angel Crocodile
The President ED Mnangagwa commonly known as the 'crocodile' is a principled family man as echoed by members of his family inteviewed during the swearing in ceremony.Can he be a an Angel crocodile that guards all aquatic life without considering their species,aquatic culture and differences?It remains to be seen.
Conilious Toga is a Bulawayo24news contributor.He is a final Accounting (Hons) students with the Chinhoyi University of Technology
He can be contacted on;
conitola@gmail.com
At least I picked something from his speech, Acie Lumumba didn't . He jockingly told bustop TV's Gonyeti that he agreed with everything the president had said but he did not pick any point. LoL
Watching the ceremony is any estimated white population of Zimbabweans which is estimated to be over 40 000 scattered around the globe.Are there still white people living in Zimbabwe after all,some people might ask?Yes, close to 50 000 whites live in Zimbabwe with 20000 of them being British citizens represented by Secretary Steward at the ceremony and close to 30 000 Zimbabwe represented by '...........' thats according to white opposition MP Eddie Cross.
Sport
White Zimbabweans are popular with elite sports like cricket,swimming and rowing.Notable figures include former English cricket coach Andy Flower, tennis player Cara Black, Olympian Kirsty Coventry and the golf Price and the cricket Price and Micheen Thorncroft.This elite sports have been hit hard by the economic meltdown in the country and that has affected their funding,they are expensive sports and they are no big sponsors as most companies closed shop.The most affected by the political situation that characterised Zimbabwe before President Mnangagwa took office is the rowing team as the Mazowe dam was confisticated by the then first family hence no training facility for an association that send two olympians to Rio in 2016.Many administrators of these sports pin their hopes on President Mnangagwa to turn around the economic that will in turn increase funding and encourage the expansion of these 'elite' sports to black communities and the poor who can not afford self funding and the cost associated with those sporting disciplines.
The Land
About 4000 of these white Zimbabweans lost their land in the fast track land reform programme of the early 2000s.Yes they were beaten,their properties confisticated without compensation and those who refused were severly tourtured.This was done all in a quest to adress imbalances brought about by colonialism.Now over 300 000 black Zimbabweans own fertile land with well connected black individuals owning mutiple farms.
Many of these white farmers up to this time have not received any compensation for the developments they made on the farms.The British government that was represented by Rory Steward promised the then Zimbabwean Premier Robert Mugabe in 1980 that they will fund the land reform programme but alaaas....... they never did.The white Zimbabwean farmers are now pinning their hopes on President Mnangagwa to compensate them for the development they made on those farms.Compensation costs for the white farmers is said to be around US$ 10 billion and Zimbabwe's annual national budget is under US $5 billion....oww yes its true.Who will pay the money?
Rory Steward made courtesy call on the new President and some hope that they discused issues to do with the economy and payment of the white farmers now can not claim they forefathers' land in 'Oxford and Kent'.Yes the land taken by ZES Mugabe belonged to the ancestors of their black counterparts who are not keen to 'buy back' their land hence Secretary Steward must explain to as to who should pay back the money? .....the Zimbabwean government of cause.CDE ADAMSKI A WHITE ZIMBABWEAN WITH A 'SINGLE' WHITE FREIND AND A THOUSAND BLACK IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN ANSWER THIS QUESTION.
The Future
Like their fellow black Zimbabweans,white Zimbabweans would want to see a Zimbabwe where no one is treated like a second class citizen as assured by His Excellence.They would also want to benefit from all programmes that are intended to benefit the general Zimbabwean populace including the right to own land or at least be allowed to enter into 50/50 patnerships with their black counterparts still retaing the ownership of land.Those who bought land after Indipendence might want to be prioritised when the compensations process starts.
They will also want to see transparency in land distribution that will see the one man one policy being replaced by the one family one farm policy to avoid a situation where individual members of elite families will own multiple farms.Lastly,white farmers were beaten,tortured and few cases of farm killings were recorded during the land reform process,properties were looted and they would want to see those that were involved appearing before a truth and reconciliation commision and find closure.
The Angel Crocodile
The President ED Mnangagwa commonly known as the 'crocodile' is a principled family man as echoed by members of his family inteviewed during the swearing in ceremony.Can he be a an Angel crocodile that guards all aquatic life without considering their species,aquatic culture and differences?It remains to be seen.
Conilious Toga is a Bulawayo24news contributor.He is a final Accounting (Hons) students with the Chinhoyi University of Technology
He can be contacted on;
conitola@gmail.com
Source - Conilious Toga
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