INTL Zimbabwe -Land Audit 2010 – What Happened to the US$ 2.5 billion handed to “New Farme

[Richard]

Land Audit 2010 – What Happened to the US$ 2.5 billion handed to “New Farmers”?



"In 30 seconds, Haiti lost 60 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product),"
and now requires an estimated US$3 billion dollars to rebuild its economy
over the next ten years due to a natural disaster. Zimbabwe spent close to
US$3 billion funding private property looters over the past ten years and
destroyed 80 percent of the nation’s GDP due to this man-made disaster.

This season, Zimbabwe is likely to produce a paltry 500 000 tonnes of maize
and needs to import at least 1.8 million tonnes, which shall be donated by
the people whose skin colour resembles those ZANU (PF) expelled from the
country and arrested for farming in Zimbabwe. Food handouts emboldened “GIFT
OF THE EU”, coming from the kith and kin of peoples ZANU (PF) now refers to
as “offsprings of colonial settlers”.

Why does ZANU (PF) not put its money where its mouths are and demand that
only food grown by black farmers on sovereign soils elsewhere be the only
acceptable aid for the humanitarian crisis about to unfold? Starving
Zimbabweans, or elsewhere, do not care about the colour of skin of the
farmer who grew their grain. Only in Zimbabwe are farmers arrested and
jailed for farming and their farms taken away to be given to fitness
trainers, television announcers, DJ’s and absentee diplomats.

Haiti is now a witness to the humanity and goodwill from the relatives of
the very people it once expelled from this tiny island in 1804, albeit they
were slave masters.

Land must go to people with a passion for farming and not to persons with an
insatiable penchant for handouts and public funds. Farming is a business—an
art and a science—which requires capital, experience, an entrepreneurial
spirit cast in stone, and both inspiration and perspiration.

The ZANU (PF) beneficiaries of farms acquired under the fast track land
exercise, whom the government refers to as “new farmers”, have received a
whopping US$2.5 billion largesse since year 2000. What happened to all these
public funds?

As of January 1 2008, the official exchange rate was 1US$ = ZW$30,000, which
means that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) disbursed US$2 073 333 333.
Assuming that the disbursement was equitable, each of the 25 477 “new
farmers” should have received an average of US$ 81 380 dollars – where is
the money?

Whilst refuting the need for a land audit, Minister of Agriculture Joseph
Made said it is still early days for a land audit in Zimbabwe and too early
to judge “new farmers’” production capabilities because they have been
operating under harsh conditions characterised by illegal economic sanctions
imposed by the West.

Farming is a difficult business, which operates at the best of times under
the harshest of climatic conditions, financial challenges and political
meddling. Managing droughts, floods, insect infestations, wind, locusts,
labour, and low producer prices is just another day at the office.
Overcoming these challenges is universal amongst farmers and is what
separates men from boys.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Land Reform Resettlement and
Agriculture during the first session of the sixth parliament on 2 November
2005, revealed the depressing state of agriculture in Zimbabwe. The RBZ
Governor, Gideon Gono presented the committee with a detailed synopsis of
ZANU (PF)’s financial handouts to “new farmers” as follows:

In 2000 - $ 1 6 billion, 2001 -$ 4 6 billion, 2002 - $8 5 billion, 2003 - $
80 billion, 2004 - $25 billion under the ASPEF, at 5% interest rate.

National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) officials revealed that, between
January and September in 2005 alone, it supplied the agricultural sector
with 19.4 million litres of fuel. Who were the beneficiaries?

The Ministry of Agriculture officials informed the committee that the
introduction of the Agricultural Inputs Scheme at the onset of the Land
Reform Programme was not clearly explained to new farmers. “Farmers are
still not clear whether the scheme is a loan scheme or a free handout scheme
and consequently this has created a dependency syndrome in farmers”.

The Zimbabwean fast track land exercise is the most publicly assisted sector
of the economy. Its output does not match the extent of support “new
farmers” receive, as the country’s food security situation is worsening.

The ASPEF productivity enhancement facility requires the farmers to support
their loan applications with evidence of actual past performance and
commitment to reinvesting their own incomes into farming programs that
enhance food security. Against its own stringent lending conditions, the
RBZ looked the other way and shoved wads of cash down the throats of
unqualified ZANU (PF) devotees, who are now hungry for more.

In 1912, the Land Bank was formed to encourage and support new settler
farmers as successful farmers. The Land Bank, later transformed into the
Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) in 1971, this later transformed into
the Agribank, which is almost insolvent due to the non-repayment of loans
advanced to politically connected non-farmers.

South Africa, which made the R300 million donation, entrusted the aid
operation to the regional bloc, Southern African Development Community
(SADC), which established the Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development
Assistance Framework (ZHDAF) to undertake the distribution of the farm
inputs. What happened to these funds?

The RBZ is tittering on the verge of bankruptcy due to the non-payment of
loans to ZANU (PF) land beneficiaries who have failed to farm. The Governor,
Gono, recently admitted that, “The assets that the bank has, if any, are
fewer than its liabilities and therefore it is technically insolvent and is
likely to collapse”.

As at 31 August 2007, the RBZ had dolled out a cumulative $3.9 trillion
under the Agricultural Sector Productivity Enhancement Facility (ASPEF) to
21 940 new farmers. Statistics made available by the central bank show a
cumulative amount of $62,2 trillion had been disbursed under ASPEF to 25 477
applications as at January 4 2008.

The seizure of farms taken under the fast track land acquisition programme
occurred during the peak season with the crops—maize, tobacco, citrus—ready
for harvest and livestock—chicken and cattle—on the ground. Evicted farmers
were prohibited from removing equipment, livestock and crops. What happened
to all this produce, tractors, irrigation equipment and crops? Who took
what? What is an offer letter? Is it constitutional? Is it legal to offer
national state land only to people who belong to one political party?
In September 2007, speaking at the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU) national
congress in Masvingo, then Minister of Agriculture, Rugare Gumbo said the
newly resettled black farmers had let the nation down after they failed to
maintain production on former white-owned farms.
“I am disappointed that our new farmers have proved to be failures since the
start of the land reform programme in 2000. In spite of all the support,
government has been pouring into the agricultural sector, productivity and
under-utilisation of land remain issues of concern. I am painfully aware of
the widespread theft of stock, farm produce, irrigation equipment and the
general vandalism of infrastructure by our new farmers”.
Gono said, "The primary motivation out of which ASPEF was born, was to hold
our farmers' financial hands to cross over the grey era of apprehensions and
general inertia by the banks to lend into agriculture during the emotive
stages of the land reform programme”.

Gono further reiterated that, after having sustained new farmers for years,
through access to concessional finance, under the ASPEF, new farmers should
be weaned off.

Even during a drought year, Zimbabwe should never suffer from a food deficit
if water from existing dams is harnessed and used for targeted production of
food crops. There were 25 dams built by government since independence, whose
water is still lying idle. These dams have a combined potential to irrigate
48 000 hectares.

Ministry of Agriculture officials disclosed that Treasury had indicated that
the fiscus alone did not have the capacity to bank-roll the programme to the
tune of Z$14,992 trillion dollars due to “other pressing national
priorities”. Hence as late as September, Treasury had still not committed
itself to funding the programme. However, RBZ released Z$7 trillion dollars
under ASPEF.

Other “pressing national priorities” that year included the procurement of
fighter jets from China.
Who is to blame for the failure of “new farmers” and for the collapse of
Zimbabwe’s agriculture? How can mere land “occupiers” who earn their living
from political patronage, consume agricultural handouts, and produce no
crops, be called “farmers”?
Phil Matibe – www.madhingabucketboy.com

[Richard]

Mugabe's Vengeful Eviction of Black Nationalist Farmers



ZANU (PF) is a creature of habit and Robert Mugabe has sharpened the one
tool in his vast arsenal, effectively destroying persons who challenge
his authority or support any opposition to his despotism and brutal hold
onto the levers of power.

Single-handedly, Mugabe has created disunity, tribal tensions, and racial
hatred amongst people who were well on their way to becoming
Africa's true multi-cultural society.

The fast track land acquisition programme is one such tool, which has
been genetically modified by ZANU (PF) pseudo political scientists to
garner illusive votes. Land reform comes into sight as a revolutionary
exercise that corrects a colonial wrong. The illusion is that
revolutionaries are taking back stolen land by colonial settlers and
their offspring and redistributing it to landless peasants.

Since independence, ZANU (PF) has blatantly employed the tactic of land
seizures and unlawful private property requisition from black political
opponents and fellow nationalists to settle old scores and to
disenfranchise powerful opposition figures.

The first victims of farm evictions in independent Zimbabwe were black
patriots.

Egregious examples of aggravated farm seizures occurred when in 1983, Dr
Joshua Nkomo's farms and private property were expropriated and he
was evicted under spurious treason allegations. He is the father of
Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, the president and founder of the
Zimbabwe People's National Union (ZAPU) and commander in chief of
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). Mugabe, on the other
hand, was an appointed functionary who caught the liberation struggle
midstream.

In Marondera on the 14th February 1982, Mugabe told a ZANU (PF) crowd
that: "ZAPU had bought more than 25 farms and more than 30 business
enterprises throughout the country. We have now established they were not
genuine business enterprises, but places of hiding military weapons to
start another war at an appropriate time. He was trying to overthrow my
government. ZAPU and its leader, Joshua Nkomo, were like a cobra in a
house. The only way to deal effectively with a snake is to strike and
destroy its head".

Joshua Nkomo was subsequently accused and charged with treason for
unlawfully trying to overthrow the "democratically elected"
government of Robert Mugabe.

These incendiary political statements stoked the flames of hate and
formed the basis of a sequence of well-choreographed campaign rhetoric
that aroused intolerance toward the Ndebele, ZAPU, and its former freedom
fighters, ZIPRA. This mantra was effectively regurgitated on state
controlled media until the majority of Zimbabweans believed that Joshua
Nkomo presented clear and present danger to Zimbabwe's sovereignty.

This was the precursor for Gukurahandi, the massacre of 30 000 people in
Matabeleland by the North Korean trained 5th Brigade, led by the current
Airforce Commander Perence Shiri who reported directly to Mugabe through
Minister of Defence Sydney Sekeramayi and Minister for State Security
Emmerson Mnangagwa. The 5th brigade was a separate army unit brigade,
composed exclusively of Shona speakers and ZANU (PF) veterans. In 1992,
mass graves were discovered at Antelope Mine near Kezi and contained the
remains of victims of the Matebeleland extrajudicial killings.

Mugabe invoked the draconian colonial era law and the farms were
confiscated under the notorious Unlawful Organisations Act, which was
enacted by settler regimes to suppress liberation organisations. Dr
Hebert Ushewokunze, Minister of Home Affairs, enthusiastically instructed
the loyal police to disposes land from Joshua Nkomo personally.
Collectively Dr Joshua Nkomo, ZAPU and ZIPRA guerrillas' land that
was wrongfully stolen by ZANU (PF) and Mugabe include the following
properties:

Ascot Farm, Solusi; Hampton Farm, Gweru; Woody Glen Farm, Umguza; Nest
Egg Farm, Gweru; Nijo Farm, Harare (now belongs to ARDA and fell under
management of Dr Joseph Made, the Minister of Agriculture, who was a mere
toddler when men of valour like Dr Joshua Nkomo were in the trenches
against an intransigent minority government); and Snake Park, Salisbury
Hotel (became government-training centres).

In 1992, Mugabe reiterated that no compensation would be paid to victims
of the Matabeleland Crisis because atrocities were committed "during a
state of war." At Nkomo's funeral in 1999, Mugabe came close
to showing remorse and admitting culpability for Gukurahundi by referring
to the massacres as a ``moment of madness''. In September
2006, Nathan Shamuyarira, who served as Information Minister during the
5th Brigade operations, is reported to have told a conference on national
reconciliation in Vumba: "No, I don't regret. They (5 Brigade) were
doing a job to protect the people".

In August 1963, Ndabaningi Sithole founded Zimbabwe African National
Union (ZANU). In 1964, there was a party Congress at Gwelo, where Sithole
was elected president and he appointed Mugabe to be his secretary
general. On Feb. 12, 1969, he was sentenced to six years of imprisonment
for involvement in a plot to assassinate lan Smith, prime minister of the
illegal Rhodesian regime, and two of his ministers. Mugabe competed for
the presidency of ZANU (PF) during its early days, and his rivalry with
Sithole intensified when Mugabe took over the party in 1976.

In the 1990s, Ndabaningi Sithole argued that land should be
re-distributed to black people and that all black people should be given
equal opportunity to access the land. The response from ZANU (PF),
through the sharp tongue of its eloquent spokesperson Dr Eddison Zvobgo,
was swift. He ridiculed him for wishful thinking and called him
"mad", further commenting that ZANU (PF) would need to
colonise Zambia to achieve what Sithole was talking about. This compelled
Sithole to show his leadership resolve and resettle landless people on
his private Churu Farm on the outskirts of Harare.

The government first accused Sithole of not owning the farm, which he had
bought in 1979; later in 1992, through a "white" Minister of
Health, Dr Timothy Stamps, declared Churu Farm a health hazard that would
pollute Lake Chivero. How did ZANU (PF) employ a "white"
minister and use him to evict a black revolutionary? This political
hypocrisy and ideological insincerity renders ZANU (PF) a deceitful
party.

Despite obtaining a High Court injunction that clearly stated: "The
Land Acquisition Act was being used as a punitive measure and political
weapon," ZANU (PF) went ahead and forcibly removed 4 000 landless
residents of opposition from ZANU-Ndonga leader Ndabaningi Sithole's
Churu Farm. The government did not make provisions for their alternative
settlement. The late Vice President, then Senior Minister of Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development Joseph Msika said Churu Farm
residents should "go and join their homeless colleagues in the streets"
and then apply to his Ministry for aid.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) evicted the remaining 1 600 residents
of Churu and resettled them at a camp formerly used by Mozambican
refugees.

Sithole was being punished amongst other things, for the following
statement, which he made in parliament, "I move that in view of the
failure of the present government to run the country to the satisfaction
of the majority of the people of this land and in view of the social
crisis which is building up, this House of elected representatives of the
people of Zimbabwe passes a vote of `no confidence' in the
present government".

"I have dwelt in the main with these CIO documents because they
reveal the true nature of our government, notably hypocrisy and
partiality, callousness and duplicity, lamentable lack of a keen sense of
justice and an abominable deficiency of what is right and what is wrong,
a government that is not fit to rule".

In December 1997, the leader of the opposition, Rev Ndabaningi Sithole,
was found guilty on all three charges of committing acts of terrorism,
illegal possession of arms and conspiring to assassinate President
Mugabe. High Court Judge Justice Chatikobo, sitting with two assessors,
convicted him. He denied the charges and appealed against the conviction.
He was granted the right to appeal, but no appeal was filed and the case
was set aside as his health deteriorated.

In July 1993, Mugabe said, "We will not brook any decision by any
court from acquiring any land. We will get land we want from anyone, be
they black or white, and we will not be restricted to under-utilised
land."

James Chikerema: Co-founder of ZAPU and one of Zimbabwe's first
trained guerillas and true freedom fighter; his property, Diana Farm, was
designated and included for compulsorily acquisition without compensation
in 2000. He said, "As far as I'm concerned, it's Mugabe's vendetta
against me". Chikerema made it clear he supported orderly land
redistribution provided it was conducted fairly.

Enock Dumbutshena: Judge Dumbutshena Zimbabwe's first black judge, became
independent Zimbabwe's first black Chief Justice, and was a
respected jurist who fearlessly ruled against the government; he lost his
horticultural property-export flowers in Enterprise.

When land was being taken away from the first from blacks, most
Zimbabweans ignored the injustices, reducing it to quarrels between
political foes. Farmers with their eyes wide shut were too busy farming,
and the international community responded with deafening silence while
proponents of private property rights remained indifferent.

It has become a badge of honour to have land confiscated for political
beliefs.

Once there were no more opposing political voices with land to
confiscate, Mugabe moved on to white farmers, using the excuse to right a
colonial wrong. Regrettably, he targeted agricultural entrepreneurs, the
majority who had bought farms on the market in post independent Zimbabwe.
Most farmers, encouraged by Mugabe whose government issued
"Certificates of No Present Interest", invested in
horticulture, irrigation and farm infrastructure.

ZANU (PF) targets for attack and destruction any group of persons or
individuals it deems economically independent. In order for its system of
subjugation to work, the populace must be dependent upon the state.
Minorities are vulnerable, easy targets because of their skin colour,
their language and culture. Why is it that the vilest perpetrators of the
most heinous human rights violations and the beneficiaries of prime farms
through the fast tract land grab in Zimbabwe are from one ethnic group?

The post-independence land issue has never been a black / white issue -
it has been political from the beginning. After all black political
opponents' land had been grabbed, they were imprisoned or
mysteriously died, Mugabe moved on to white farmers, shifting his
reasoning to righting a colonial wrong. All along, it has been Mugabe
spinning the dogma to satisfy his own greed and to mollify sycophantic
followers whilst rewarding associates on self-enrichment exploits.

Mugabe drew first blood, realised that he could get away with it, and he
has now gone for the jugular.

Phil Matibe - www.madhingabucketboy.com

[Richard]

Zim white farmers granted bail

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Own Correspondent Wednesday 03 February 2010

HARARE - A Zimbabwean magistrate on Tuesday granted bail to five white
commercial farmers, including former Commercial Farmers Union (CFU)
president Trevor Gifford who was arrested in the farming town of Chipinge
last week.

According to the CFU, the magistrate in the eastern border city of Mutare
granted US$200 bail to each of the farmers and ordered them to return to
court in two weeks time.

"The farmers have been granted US$200 bail each and have been ordered to
reside on their properties. They have also been ordered to come back to
court in two weeks time," CFU director Hendrik Olivier told ZimOnline.

Gifford, the immediate past president of the CFU was arrested in Chipinge on
Thursday where he had gone to deliver a High Court order setting aside an
eviction ruling a local magistrate passed against four white farmers in the
southeastern farming town last Tuesday.

Chipinge magistrate Samuel Zuze convicted Algernon Taffs of Chirega Farm,
Dawie Joubert of Stilfontein, Mike Odendaal of Hillcrest and Mike Jahme of
Silverton Farm for refusing to vacate their properties and sentenced them to
a US$800 fine each. He ordered that they immediately move out of their homes
and vacate their farms by Wednesday evening.

The farmers filed an urgent appeal in the High Court in Harare Wednesday
evening, a move that under court procedures means the ruling of the lower
court is automatically put on hold, allowing the farmers to remain on their
properties until conclusion of their appeal against both conviction and
sentencing.

But Zuze on Thursday issued warrants of arrest for the four farmers for
failing to vacate their properties as he had ordered.

The mainly white CFU last has criticised the power-sharing government
between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for
failing to end chaos in the farming sector. - ZimOnline

[Richard]

Zimbabwe coalition partner denounces Mugabe's party

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Feb 2, 2010, 21:20 GMT

Harare - The tension between Zimbabwe's two main coalition partners
escalated sharply Tuesday when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's top aide
angrily denounced President Robert Mugabe's ZANU(PF) for waging war against
the democratic reform process.

The statement from Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) and finance minister in the power-sharing
government, was seen as the most outspoken attack by the pro- democracy
party since the start of the coalition was formed nearly a year ago.

It came against a background of deadlock in attempts to bring in reforms
prescribed in the coalition government, as well of a surge in violence and
lawlessness by Mugabe's alleged agents.

The recent four weeks following the congress of Mugabe's ZANU(PF) has seen
an acceleration of destruction, including violent invasions of white-owned
farms, defiance of court orders, an overt onslaught in the state-owned media
against Tsvangirai and stalemate at the negotiating table.

Biti charged that ZANU(PF) was trying to strangle the fledgling coalition on
its first birthday.

The unity government emerged after Southern African leaders intervened in
the wake of a bloody presidential election campaign that saw an estimated
200 MDC supporters murdered and thousands more tortured and made homeless.

Mugabe was declared winner amidst widespread charges of a fraudulent poll
that was dismissed across Africa and much of the international community.

Critics of Mugabe charge that the 85-year-old president and his supporters
have blocked the roadmap toward democracy, which was to have included the
creation of a new constitution and reform of the country's notoriously
brutal security forces.

Roy Bennett, the popular white farmer and national treasurer of the MDC
appointed deputy agriculture minister by Tsvangirai, has still not been
sworn in. Meanwhile, two top officials re-appointed by Mugabe in violation
of new procedures remain in office - central bank governor Gideon Gono, who
is blamed for Zimbabwe's 500-billion-per- cent inflation, and the blatantly
partisan attorney general.

Last week, Mugabe's powerful politburo declared that there would be no
concessions over these and many other issues, and demanded that the MDC
ensure that illegal Western sanctions be lifted.

The MDC and Western governments noted that the sanctions are targeted
exclusively at Mugabe and about 200 of his powerful coterie, barring them
from visiting or investing in Europe, North America, Australia and New
Zealand.

'It is time that ZANU(PF) took responsibility for the dark decade of poverty
and violence their policies unleashed on the innocent people of this
nation,' Biti said.

'ZANU(PF) cannot continue to be normative members of this government when in
fact they are working against it every turn,' he said.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which brokered the
coalition government, has made clear it intends to ensure the next Zimbabwe
elections are free and fair.

Before each of five national elections since 2000, Mugabe's supporters are
charged with having launched lethal national campaigns of violence and fraud
to ensure he continues his 30-year reign as president.

[VesperSparrow]

They do not want to WORK FOR THEIR FOOD.
They want it handed to them, silver platter and all that.
Their 'leaders' will not starve.

And we will never see the end of the Sally Struthers infoo-mercials which beg for money to feed the little ones who ultimately suffer because of this. Sadly, those little ones will grow up thinking they do not have to WORK FOR FOOD either.

Just goes to show ya...

[cleobc]

Do you think that the left would not do this here, redistribute land as part of wealth redistribution? Marxism has caused so much evil in the world.

[imaginative]

Originally Posted by cleobc

Do you think that the left would not do this here, redistribute land as part of wealth redistribution? Marxism has caused so much evil in the world.

Undoubtedly; that Supreme Court decision of Kelo vs New London could be viewed as a small first step.