Resettled farmers dismiss war vet Sibanda’s ‘white threats’ claim

By Tererai Karimakwenda
05 April, 2008

Communal farmers in areas surrounding the capital have dismissed comments by war vet leader Jabulani Sibanda, suggesting that black farmers that were resettled by the government were being threatened by white farmers who had returned to their properties. The state media this week had reports in which Sibanda claimed white farmers hoped for a victory by the MDC, and had returned to the land they were evicted from and ordered resettled farmers to leave. Other reports said that the MDC planned to give back the farms back to whites when the party comes into power. This was strongly denied by opposition officials.

Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa visited several farms on the outskirts of Harare on Saturday. He said many of the so-called “A2 farmers” given plots by government as part of the chaotic land reform programme, said it was very quiet and peaceful on their farms. They had not seen any white farmers return to threaten them as alleged by Sibanda.

One of the A2s went further to say that the government has often used them for political gain without actually helping them to improve their lives. He gave the example of the ‘Farm Mechanisation Programme’ that was initiated by government, saying it intended to redevelop agriculture. Most of the farm equipment and implements that were distributed as part of that scheme went to local government and ruling party officials.

Our correspondent said the A2 farmers were quite aware that these reports of threats against them by white farmers were meant to give the war veterans an excuse to harass and intimidate opposition supporters and officials.

ZANU-PF has been using the government controlled media outlets to their advantage during the electoral period. Opposition parties have never received equal time on the radio and television broadcasts.