No evidence of farmers' returning


By Tererai Karimakwenda
18 July 2005

The farmers' organization Justice For Agriculture have released a statement questioning the truthfulness of recent press reports that farmers are being invited to return to their farms, and are in fact taking up such offers. JAG said nothing could be further from the truth.

The JAG team says they followed up on numerous rumours and the false perceptions resulting from them, and found no evidence whatsoever that any farmers had returned to their land. They did however uncover some unofficial, disjointed approaches being made by individuals who were not prepared to officially identify themselves.

John Worsley-Worswick of JAG said these could be opportunists trying to jump on a non-existent band wagon, but they were most likely undercover operatives testing the reactions of commercial farmers and thereby fuelling the propaganda.

Worswick said given the continuing and intensifying pressure on those few farmers still around to get off their property, and the actual evictions taking place almost daily, it would be ridiculous to believe the propaganda about farmers returning.

JAG's statement also addressed the serious issue of some remaining farmers who have unwittingly accepted a government offer of 99-year leases in exchange for their free-hold title deeds. Worsley-Worswick said JAG strongly advises against this move. Any farmer accepting this offer would be in effect exchanging something of substantive legal value for a promise that is not even protected by the constitution of Zimbabwe. He said it is in fact unlawful to enter into a contractual lease agreement extending beyond 10 years in Zimbabwe.