Farm Grabs May Promote Disinvestments

Farms grabs unsettle other productive farmers and may promote disinvestments. Graphic by The Citizen Bulletin

BY THE EDITORIAL TEAM | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | JUN 25, 2021

Farmers right now are probably wondering, “who's next?” To what end?

BULAWAYO (The Citizen Bulletin) — On 14 June 2021 at about 2:56 pm, a tweet from a local international human rights lawyer popped up on social media platform indicating that a farm he co-owns in Nyamandlovu is subject to acquisition by Government.

For ease of reference,  Siphosami Malunga  – Open Society of Southern Africa (OSISA) executive director wrote;  “Today we received a call from Mr Dodzi at the land office in Bulawayo to tell us that the Zim govt has acquired our privately-owned farm and tomorrow they are coming to peg it, and give it to people they have allocated it to. This isn’t about land reform and we will fight it in every way.”

A follow-up post read: “The farm is wholly privately owned by 3 black individuals and we only got to see the Gazette and acquisition notice issued on 18 December for the first time today after the Lands Officer gave us the number and told us to go to government printers”.

The acquisition of the farm in one of the fertile and productive areas in Matabeleland region makes sad reading and the unfolding saga is carried in detail in our cover story.

While we might not be privy to fuller details leading up to the Government Gazette dated 18 December 2020 which only came to the attention of Malunga and co. in June (as per his tweet) being issued, the development puts a dent on the country’s image among the family of nations.

It is no secret that we need foreign direct invest from every corner but such goings-on scares foreign investors.

We are certain that authorities in the corridors of power are well aware of this.

Farm acquisitions, seizures or farm grabs should be done away with once and for all.

We feel that sporadic episodes more than 20 years after the fast-track land redistribution programme began unsettle beneficiaries.

We should not be focusing on farm disruptions. The thrust should be on scaling up productivity.

Central government need to follow through with its pledge of respecting property rights. We are reminded of an African proverb that says, “If a snake bites a neighbour, you too are in danger”.

It unsettles other productive farmers in the region and elsewhere.  

They are quietly asking themselves, who is next?

Farmers need certainty on the land to fully commit themselves to productivity that will guarantee food security for the country. No one will commit resources when surrounded by uncertainty.

We humble appeal to authorities to put a finality on land reform.  

We cannot over emphasis importance of stability in farms and others sectors of the economy.

On a separate note, in March, Cabinet outlined a raft of massive national e-learning strategies that entail 1 500 schools connected on the internet before the end of the year.

Further intervening strategies such as manufacturing of up to 150 000 digital gadgets, about 3 000 educators undergoing information communication technology training by June to boost e-learning and electrification of 434 schools were announced.

The measures are in order as we have highlighted before that many students in remote areas do not have access to expensive broadband access and some schools in those areas are not electrified to power the gadgets.

However, in one of our articles, a primary pupil in Lupane indicates that he has never seen a computer save through a picture.

That is not good enough, as it is impossible to learn information technology by merely looking at a picture.

We implore authorities to make good on policies outlined in boardrooms as pupils in outlaying remote areas are being left behind.

However, we are told no one will be left behind!

In reality, many pupils are being left behind and catching up might be impossible.

Set timelines need to be adhered to and it’s our fervent hope that a follow-up announcement on progress made would be made before the next school terms begins.