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 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
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