Lands minister says white farmers can stay till harvest

By Tererai Karimakwenda
07 February 2007

The state security and land reform minister is in the headlines again with another comment regarding the status of the country’s remaining white farmers. And as usual he has added to the confusion rather than clarify the government’s policy on white commercial farming.

According to the BBC news site lands minister Didymus Mutasa said the last white farmers whose eviction deadline passed can stay on their land until they harvest their crops. He was referring to a group of 24 farmers in Chiredzi who were served 45-day eviction notices and were due to leave on Saturday. Many stayed away just for the weekend and are back on their farms. The state’s Chronicle newspaper quoted Mutasa saying: "We have, as a government, agreed to let them stay put and wind up their businesses, at least until harvest time. It is then that they will be moving out and making way for our own people who urgently need land."

The news comes just a day after other reports which quoted the minister threatening the white farmers. He said: “Those farmers who do not comply with the orders to vacate the land will be dealt with severely," This is the same minister who in the past has said only whites with good human relations can stay. The very same one who also said the future of agriculture in Zimbabwe is black. And not to forget that late last year Mutasa said white farmers were like garbage that should be taken out.
Eric Harrison, a former commercial farmer who lost his land in Chiredzi through violent evictions called “jambanja”, said Mutasa’s latest comments show the minister is as confused as anyone else. Asked if he would plant any crops under the current conditions, Harrison said: “Absolutely not. No-one’s got confidence in anything they say at the moment. And until there is a policy switch it’s gonna be like this.”

Harrison said it is going to take a long time to revive Zimbabwe’s agriculture because it was well established and developed to a high degree. A lot of research had been utilized and banking systems set up. Harrison also described how the farmers who relocated to neighboring countries are battling to settle down under different conditions. He said very few were compensated but even then they accepted the offers out of desperation after being evicted with nothing.