Potential commercial farmers turned into poor peasant farmers

Zimbabwe's success story turns to be a gloomy one and shameful story hidden away from the gaze of the camera but continues to be celebrated in Africa. There's no celebrated story in Africa that beats Zimbabwe's land reform program which is now 16 years old by time of writing. However to use the word 'success' in describing the results of land reform program will be a dangerous misinterpretation of facts on the ground surrounding the real issues. The scheme of giving people back their land was fundamental implementation towards economic independence of the black people of Zimbabwe and must be celebrated but I believe failure to implement the scheme must be put under scrutiny and criticism.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.", yes indeed the lives of Zimbabweans begin to end when they stopped holding the government accountable. 

The slammer of the land reform program grew as I grew from boyhood to manhood and as I grew to accept the reality on the ground than the fantasy and rhetoric, to borrow the language of the herald. Year 2000 historicised everything in Zimbabwe we were the only African country that turn the millennium writing a constitution, we were the only African country who turned the millennium empowering the indigenous black people and I was in grade 1 and 8 years old but the memories are still fresh in my mind. I know every name that matters in Zimbabwean political life, I also remember the day I was beaten by my war veteran father for bringing the National Constitutional Assembly posters home which campaigned against the new constitution. 

It was pandemonium everywhere in Zimbabwe with the economy melting down and stay aways and me living the city to the new farm we were allocated by the government I could see that things were not right. That was the first time I heard and add the word corruption in my vocabulary though I could not spell it that moment but I could understand what it meant because my daddy uttered it everyday when we got to our new farm in Masvingo North Constituency 60kms along the Masvingo Mutare Road. I grew up with one wish to see black farmers prosper than McDonald the former white owner of the farm now I no longer have the wish but I got a purpose to see black farmers become more prosperous than the white farmers only if we can stop corruption. 

Land reform did not cripple maize production in Zimbabwe but corruption did and it stopped maize production in Masvingo North Constituency the area I will use as a case study because I write what I saw not evidence aliunde. It is an undeniable fact that the government failed the land reform program and they made the farmers poor. This is evidenced by the radical transformation of the ministry of agriculture in to minister of maize importation and silo leasing because the country can produce to feed itself. The minister each year complaints of the rains and wish for God to have mercy on Zimbabwe yet great minds don't have wishes but purpose. The farmers who were given land by the government had potential to become commercial farmers but government tried by all means to make them poor peasant farmers who are easy to manipulate for votes. The state of being broke is temporary while the state of being poor is permanent the government made sure the situation of farmers is permanent by pressing destructive buttons towards agriculture each time they formulate policies. Firstly they was double allocation of land in Masvingo North. This was caused by lack of clear policy in how land was going to be distributed. 

The lands office's in Masvingo had land allocation papers with signatures of the Minister of Lands in place, all allocation papers were signed by the Minister first before the agritex and Ministry of Lands accept or give the land to an individual. This saw offices turned into black-markets of offer letters resulting in double allocation and nepotism. The government didn't check the problem of double allocation but created a situation of survival of the fittest only the ruthless and well connected stayed at farm land and the weak were booted out and to be left out without choice than to go to invade grazing pastures and black people's farms or to be duped into agreeing that a certain war veteran holds the key to agricultural land. This problem created homeless citizens victims of conmen. 

The first of my experience where more than two hundred victims of conman who were duped into believing that the farm of Hon Emerson Munangagwa was under allocation because it was under cultivated. Most of the victims were from Bikita District Ndambani village under Chief Marozva, among the victims was former ZANU Pf Councillor Mabachi who represented a ward in bikita west when retired Colonel Makova was Bikita West legislature. The evicted farmers payed 200 Zimbabwean dollars to Zikani Panganai who was a husband to a war veteran and he titled himself the base commander. The farmers were evicted in a brutal way without notice or alternative to help them get land since they were landless. 

I vividly remember that the victims were regular attendance at the late minister of Education who was the masvingo north legislature's campaigning rallies where they were guaranteed that they got full rights on the land they were staying. Promising is one thing but delivering is another thing two days after winning the elections the owner of the farm send more than 500 cattle to pillage on the unlawful farmers maize, this was not enough the police came and burned down house and arrested some people. These people were duped to believe they got land from ZANU Pf government. At this age I now believe that people were allocated land by the government as an election campaigning strategy not black empowerment strategy. 

This is evidenced by successive illegal allocation of land to landless farmers on ZANU Pf elites farms, 2002 at presidential election another group of people were duped the same in stayed vice president Munangagwa's farm and were chased after voting and in every scenario ZANU Pf mp won election in  masvingo north, it was not only vice president's farm that was invaded but Chitumba, Mukaro, Potyo and other black farmers I no longer remember at the age of 23, the last group who were evicted were staying in Mukaro and Chitumba's farm these landless people add up to 1206 according to the count I did from a record that was kept by Toperesu who led the landless invaders to borrow the language of newspapers, this vigilant character I have mentioned is my uncle and I know what he have been through in the quest of land since year 2000 up to date. The idea of giving people land in Masvingo as a campaigning strategy by the ruling party crippled the land reform program and made it a vehicle of creating landless and poor citizens who are betrayed every election and left wonderers in their motherland, the last report of eviction was reported by Masvingo Mirror and Daily Newspapers in September 2013.

The other scheme that paralyzed implementation of agriculture in Zimbabwe is experiments after experiments, the idea of treating citizens as political arena where gladiators test their abilities is wrong. The Maguta Champion farmer programme made headlines in newspapers as a vehicle of breakthrough in economic paradise and revival of agriculture in Zimbabwe and even Masvingo North. The scheme was nothing but a presentation of how twisted  and corrupt have Zimbabwe become and is a warning against policies that are disconnected from the realities on the ground. Wherever the is no rule of law they will be no economic progress. The champion farmer Maguta Program came in 2007 and was fully implemented in 2008 and died a natural death after the corrupt distribution of farming implements which range from tractors to ploughs. 

The government bought tractors from China and Brazil which were supposed to be given to farmers who owns plots in one community, the tractors were supposed to be given to villagers as a whole not to a single individual. However the scheme did not flow as planned by the government but it flow as was planned by the capitalistic ZANU Pf  cabal. Senior army officers were seen distributing tractors in Masvingo at Mushagashi one of the popular name was Captain Gono he was the man who led the infamous violence during the 2008 election with a group of thug war veterans in Masvingo north. The timing of Maguta champion farmer program was a time to reward those who had helped him burn and beat up people in the area. Tractors were supposed to be given by names of farms not plot holders and it was going to be a farm tract which was going to benefit all farmers with plots in a farm that was formerly owned by the former white farmers. 

The following are some of the farms whose tractors were given to individuals with links to the corrupt captain. Shallock Park Farm its tractor was given to Chipadzakudya self made war veteran and girlfriend to Trust Mugabe son of the late chief Mugabe from nemamwa who was ZANU PF DCC chairman by that time, Vedernburg Farm its tractor was given to Army Major Murozvi, Rippling waters Farm its tractor was given to the late Brigadier Mudavanhu and for Marrah Range it was given to Mr Masunda a war veteran. The tractors that were supposed to be given to zimuto rural areas and kapota were given to prominent cdes who lived in Masvingo town but had no land to cultivate, I know a student who learned at Victoria High School in Masvingo who used the tractor as his transport to school. To cut the story shot the program did not benefit the intended people and still people need tractors because they haven't seen them. 

Failure by gmb to pay farmers dues in time is another contributing factor that supports why farmers who had the zeal to become commercial farmers are now bankrupt. When new farmers got land most of them were employed and they sponsored their projects with salaries and loans they obtained through employment guarantee, that's why most of them were called telephone farmers because they were employed and were not practically on the ground but they sponsored their activities.  When these farmers lost jobs they went back home to find out they bankrupt because the gmb didn't pay their grain in time. It is important to note that the reason they were bankrupt was not only of late payment but the current was depreciating value daily. 

The reserve bank started to buy maize directly from farmers but this didn't help because the cabal always have new plans. Government ministers and other rich people would buy maize from GMB at a lower prices than GMB bought it from the farmers, thus the rich would spend the whole day buying and selling to the marketing board  which was detrimental to government coffers who end up resorting to paying local farmers late when the money no longer have value. The government put a scheme to vehicle stealing from the poor people during the hyperinflation era, they set up sub depots in rural areas and resettlement areas, in these areas GMB paid farmers by cheque not cash. By the time the farmers travel to the urban areas the inflation would have taken its course and the farmer would go back farming empty handed. The system of stealing from people under the guise of name GMB, have crippled agriculture in masvingo north and Zimbabwe as a whole. 2014 August farmers in happy valley Ward 8 Masvingo north sold their maize to GMB and were not paid their money until November 2015. Thus this is detrimental to financing of new agricultural season. 

Reluctance of the government to give farmers bankable titles have crippled agriculture in Zimbabwe. The former white farmers had title deeds that allowed the to access loans from the banks and funding agricultural projects was easy however the new farmers owns 99 year lease which is not a bankable title and I not easy for farmers to continue to fund agricultural projects from salaries and pensions and expect them to produce more.

Failure by the government to introduce private players in maize production has been a major blow to maize production in masvingo. The government stringent laws that makes GMB the only player in maize production without competition has increased the plight of farmers in masvingo who are mainly maize producers. Tobacco is becoming more and more favorable to farmers in region 2 because of its reliability on market. The reason is that the are private players and contractors who provide quality market and competitive prices unlike maize production. Thus Zimbabwe is more of tobacco producer than a breadbasket. 

The initiative by the government of stopping all affirmative NGOs who were positive towards agriculture have caused maize production to be stagnant since farmers in the areas ceased to afford to buy fertilizer and seed from their own pockets and make it to be commercial farmers. The government chipped in with the presidential inputs which offers people maize seed and fertilizer however donations have ceased to reach intended beneficiaries the day corruption start to exist. The scheme is meant to offer people 2bags of fertilizer 10kgs of maize seed however none of the ordinary farmers have received the allocation as presented by the scheme. 

This is because of long channels the seed and fertilizers passes through. Misuse of position is corruption, the seed is looted from ZANU Pf presidium to village cell level. It can sound as a joke but the are many hands involved in distribution of the presidential inputs. These many hands include ZANU Pf leadership, councillors, traditional chiefs and Agritex. It is a plight that these hands are the ones responsible for corruption and stealing. What village heads distribute to the farmers is scraps and a mockery to the plight of farmers in most cases the plate is used as standard measurement of the seed and fertilizer individuals are supposed to receive.

Tafadzwa Marufu Marinda [Community Blogger]

Tafadzwa is a member of Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe Party Youth Assemble Committee, Research Team, and an active Community Outreach Executive with  natural leadership abilities. He has been pursuing studies in Law at the university of Zimbabwe but faces financial challenges to pay his fees.

Contact :+263 77 781 0029
Email     :blogger@freedomjusticecoalitionzimbabwe.org

Zimbabwean Political Climate

It is very disheartening to notice that the situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating at an unprecedented pace all because of old man Mugabe and his party who are determined to cling onto power at all cost. 

The situation has been worsened by the recent inclusion back to their Zanu (PF) fold of their biblical prodigal son Jonathan Moyo who has now sharpened his wits more intensely than ever before in order to save his skin while at the same time gaining political ground amongst the ageing geriatrics at the beleaguered Zanu-PF political party.

In articles that sometimes appear in The Zimbabwe Times, Jonathan Moyo doesn't care to mince his words when showering Mugabe and their politburo with unprecedented praise in a clear indication that the prodigal son has indeed repented and has realised that the error of his ways with Zanu-PF will always drive him into political oblivion.

In one of such articles Mr Moyo was heard rubber-stamping what is always parroted within Zanu-PF circles that Morgan Tsvangirai is a proxy of the West and that the gains of independence would be lost if Zimbabweans were ever swayed to vote in favour of MDC. He went on to utter tirades of scone against MDC's Deputy Minister of Agriculture-elect Roy Bennett accusing him of being a white Rhodesia who, in the heydays of pre-independence, was in the Rhodesia Light Infantry army unit whose major aim was to safeguard interests of the white minority. He is also heard boasting and portraying himself as a true patriotic warrior who will never condone anything that indicates a slightest reversal of the gains of independence that was brought about through blood, sweat and tears. 

"All those who sacrificed their lives to see that Zimbabwe is truly liberated would have died in vain if we let those who stood in their way like Mr Bennett enjoy those fruits of independence." he is heard fuming.

It never crosses his mind that the war of liberation was waged to reverse a system and not individuals. General Josiah Magama Tongogara himself was always proclaiming that he envisaged an environment where people of all races lived in harmony with each other and not what Mr Moyo is now attempting to make Zimbabweans believe. He totally ignores the fact that amongst the rank and file of Zanu-PF there exist influential individuals like Philip Chiyangwa who were in police reserve units whose purpose was to patrol the borders of Zimbabwe to deter young men and women who attempted to cross the border to neighbouring countries like Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique from joining the liberation movement.  

Mr Jonathan Moyo chooses to look the other way while we are also witnessing some Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives who, during the war of liberation, were members of the notorious Selous Scouts that committed untold atrocities through deceit. It is no secret that the Selous Scouts' deadly operation was to deceive the locals by ably pretending to be freedom fighters as they spied and supplied inside information to the Rhodesian Army who would later fly in and bombard unsuspecting freedom fighters and others who perished in their thousands in camps such at Chimoio and Nyadzonya. 

Every Zimbabwean including Mr Morgan Tsvangirai knows what the nation went through to attempt any reversal of our independence that came as a result of the supreme sacrifices taken by our gallant liberators to listen to the nonsense being churned by the likes of Jonathan Moyo who are, in fact, the ones reversing the gains of our hard-won independence by subjugating the same people whose suffering provided the impetus to go to war in the first place.

If only we could observe the rule of law on fundamental human rights, we will rest assured that we wont be letting down our fallen heroes by denying their fervent wish to see Zimbabweans living in harmony with each other.  


Courtesy of Lameck Mahachi [Diaspora resident Zimbabwean]

Lameck Mahachi.

The loss of 'Democratic Accountability' is retrogressive to national development.

One of the reasons we have a failing democracy is because there is no fair balance in terms of political party funding for a multi-party environment.

It's a well known fact that we cannot have politics without money, but on the same notion money is also dangerous where institutions do not have effective transparency and accountability measures in place to monitor financial activities.

Zimbabwe does not have rich parties, but parties whose funds do not have a clear audit and can easily be used to buy votes especially taking into account the difficult economic conditions affecting the larger section of our electorate and the fact that there are no checks and balance mechanism in place that can be enforced where such activities are taking place. Aspiring MP's usually appear towards election time and rarely have an efficient time-table they use to to talk to citizens in their constituents on a regular basis thereafter.

With the growing influence that comes from financially powerful actors,  we have seen how donor funding can easily shape government policy and corrupt and pervert its procurement decisions. We have seen cases where personal or factional war chests can fuel internal divisions, fund vote buying in internal elections, and accelerate factionalism. in political organisations.

Ultimately as most of us now know, money can corrupt a political system and, in the long term, destroy political parties and delay national development objectives at the expense of elitism and hunger for power.

Three symptoms point to the need for comprehensive reform of money and politics in Zimbabwe today:

1. Loss of democratic accountability of political parties to citizens, and within political parties.

2. Increased campaign spending by the bigger political actors, matched with declining electoral participation and fair competition.

3. A decrease in public trust and participation in electoral politics.

Until we have an electorate with changed attitudes, our politics will remain focused on leadership personalities with not much interest directed towards understanding institutional frameworks and how policy and process can be used effectively to hold leadership accountable for their decisions and actions.

"The gap between known public funding and expenditure estimates

remains considerable. … It is in this non-transparent and

unregulated space that both established and emerging businesses,

as well as wealthy individuals, are able to engage in the purchase of

political and policy influence, as well as of lucrative state contracts."

When political parties come to rely on the financial support of a few – not just the votes of a majority – to win and maintain power, public accountability and internal party democracy are undermined. Public funding of political parties currently accounts for only a small fraction of the total funds parties raise. The rest – amounting to millions per year, most of it undisclosed – comes from private sources whose interests cannot be automatically assumed to represent the broader public interest.

The loss of democratic accountability through unregulated party funding extends
to the internal power dynamics of political parties. If we had strong institutional foundations, we would not have leadership continuity problems and corruption which exists from political party levels. If the structures were solid, individual leaders would find it hard to survive as people would understand how to utilise internal process to demand answers from their executive leadership structures.

"While private party funding remains unregulated in Zimbabwe,

opportunities for wielding unfair influence or bribery remain."

Vendors are creative ordinary citizens willing to take "ACTION' to address their personal economic challenges

"Vending has become a normal way of life for even University graduates"

I am People

Street vendors are not a unique development exclusive to Zimbabwe, they are actually an integral part of urban economies around the world, offering easy access to a wide range of goods and services in public spaces. They sell everything from fresh vegetables to prepared foods, from building materials to garments and crafts, from consumer electronics to auto repairs to haircuts.

Vending is not a new activity, it has always existed in Council controlled zones like the Mbare Market stalls where even the most wealthy used to travel to seek good bargains. It's usually created by low barriers to entry, limited start-up costs, and flexible hours which are some of the factors that draw street vendors to the occupation. Many people enter street vending because they cannot find a job in the formal economy.

But surviving as a street vendor requires a certain amount of skill. Competition among vendors for space in the streets and access to customers is strong in many cities. And vendors must be able to negotiate effectively with wholesalers and customers.

Street vendors face other routine occupational hazards. Many lift and haul heavy loads of goods to and from their point of sale. They are exposed to physical risk due to a lack of proper fire safety equipment, and also exposed to injury from the improper regulation of traffic in commercial areas.

Insufficient waste removal and sanitation services result in unhygienic market conditions and undermine vendors’ sales as well as their health, and that of their customers.

Street vending is not a problem, it is the organisation of street vending that is lacking in most urban centres. The creation of membership-based organizations is a good start to helping street vendors navigate their relationship with the authorities, build solidarity and solve problems with other vendors. Government needs to come up with working alternatives, institutionalise vending so there is a legal framework of monitoring their financial earning activities. Our banking sectors can create packaged account products targeted at vendors that can help them grow their profits so they can gradually become stream-lined entrepreneurs. Our Council's can also ensure vending markets have clean facilities, clean water to avoid creating a health hazard.

After all has been said and discussed vendor's mostly exist because of a lack of jobs and employment opportunities in society.