Tuesday 22 December, 2009 HEADLINES

Grace Mugabe linked to farm evictions



author/source:Standard (Zimb)
published:Sun 20-Dec-2009
posted on this site:Tue 22-Dec-2009



Confused farmers said they were given less than a week to vacate Arnold Farm a few days after Mrs Mugabe toured the area

By Jennifer Dube

The First Lady Grace Mugabe has been linked to moves to evict 1 200 newly resettled farmers from a Mazowe Farm to make way for a new game park. Confused farmers said they were given less than a week to vacate Arnold Farm a few days after Mrs Mugabe toured the area accompanied by Transport Minister Nicholas Goche, Zanu PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi, police officers and officials from the Ministry of Lands. But Mashonaland Central governor, Martin Dinha, sought to distance Mugabe from the farm saying she had never visited the area, which he said had been set aside for a game park to be developed by Chinese and South African investors. However, the settlers insisted they were told that orders to evict them had come from the highest office and their last day on the farm was supposed to be December 11.

Most of the farmers said they had nowhere to go after arriving at the farm nine years ago as part of Zanu PF’s militant land reform programme. Claris Chiminya (39) who has five children said she could not just abandon her thriving maize crop after she paid US$80 for a tractor to plough her three-hectare plot. “I have always done my best to ensure that I get a good yield to feed the family and also sell to the Grain Marketing Board and Cottco,” Chiminya said. “Last year I harvested six bales of cotton and a lot of maize, some of which is still in the hut despite us having sold and eaten some. This year I wanted to do better than that hence the decision to sacrifice the little money I had to do dry planting.” Chiminya like most of her neighbours got seed, fertiliser and chemicals from Cottco through a loan that she must repay after harvest next year.

Zanu PF Mazowe Ward 19 chairman Christopher Mahachi said everyone at the farm was given four days to vacate despite the need to get clearance to move livestock among other things. “Chief Negomo, the paramount chief in this area, came to me on Monday accompanied by someone he said was a chief officer from the Lands ministry and told me that we should all vacate this farm the following morning,” Mahachi said. Mahachi said he was advised to tell the people that government wanted to start a project on the farm, which will create employment for 9 000 people. “We were told that since we were only 1 200 families, we cannot disturb government in this project as it stood to benefit more people,” Mahachi said. He said they were told that even if they appealed the order would not be reversed because it came from “the top”.

Mahachi said Elliot Manyika, the late Zanu PF commissar, once warned them that the farm was not for resettlement but they were assured by government officials that alternative land for them would be found. “Why did they not evict us before the elections,” said another settler, Tafara Mudzamiri. “These people are treating us like a grader, leaving us to clear this land which was a dense forest and now throwing us out like used tissues. Even witches will not do this to us. They should at least allow our crop to mature so we can have food to feed our families next year.” However, Dinha said the people were illegally settled on the farm and accused them of degrading the environment. “They have done a lot of damage in that area ranging from wanton cutting down of trees, illegal gold panning and game poaching,” he said. “You will remember that the farm is one of the three farms covering Manzou Game Park, which was designated Nehanda National Monument in 2004. Present on that farm is the holiest traditional site called Baradzwana where Nehanda was captured.”

He denied claims by the settlers that they have been given less than a week to leave and said a meeting to discuss the issue was scheduled for last Tuesday. But it emerged that he only sent his representative to the farm. Dinha then warned: “But the bottom line is that everyone is moving, including both legal and illegal miners that could be found on the farm because everyone knows that the area is not for people or mines but for animals,” he said. “We will soon fence the area and bring back the animals.” The First Family has been linked to at least five farms that were grabbed from white commercial farmers during the chaotic land reform programme. At least 4 000 farmers lost had their land after it was seized during the often violent occupations.

Funny how it's coming full circle on their own.

first the blacks steal the land from the whites. now they steal it from each other. what goes around comes around i guess and the ultimate winners here will be the Chinese.

Only fools place their trust in thieves.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
first the blacks steal the land from the whites. now they steal it from each other. what goes around comes around i guess and the ultimate winners here will be the Chinese.

They want to suffer...

Whats it gonna take to get a 5 man Ranger sniper team to sort out Mad Bob for good so that we can get one of the most beautiful countries back onits feet
. . . start looking for oil guys

quote:

Originally posted by 300win Mag:
Whats it gonna take to get a 5 man Ranger sniper team to sort out Mad Bob for good so that we can get one of the most beautiful countries back onits feet
. . . start looking for oil guys

It'll take a lot more than for Mad Bob to croak for that to happen.

As soon as he pops his clogs, they'll be a mad scramble for power and even if a good man wins, (which is far from guaranteed) there'll be decades of work before the country properly recovers........ and it'll never recover unless the stolen land, livestock & property etc is returned to it's lawful owners and that act will stir up a lot of discontent amongst an awful lot of people.

I wish the Zimbos all the luck in the world but even with the flood of foreign aid that will pour in if and when a stable Govt is installed, they're gonna have a long struggle to get everything stabalised again.

Amen, and if Joyce Mujuru has her way, she'll be the next President of Zim. I hear that she's as ruthless as uncle Bob. Her nom de guerre before independence was: "Spill Blood" and I believe that she also made the comment not long after Mugabe took over that it had been too long since she had tasted white blood. What a country.

quote:

first the blacks steal the land from the whites. now they steal it from each other. what goes around comes around i guess and the ultimate winners here will be the Chinese.

It's like the woman that sleeps with a married man and is then suprised to find him porkin someone else. There is no honor amongst thieves.