Four arrested as offensive against Chiredzi farmers intensifies

By Alex Bell
23 March 2009

Two farmers and two farm supervisors in Chiredzi have become the latest victims of the fresh wave of farm attacks sweeping the country, and there are fears that the offensive against the Chiredzi farming community is intensifying.

The group were arrested over the weekend and spent Sunday night behind bars. The farmers, Benoit Fayd’herbe and Tony Sarpo, were released later on Monday after appearing in court and being formally charged with ‘illegal occupation of state property’. They were released on free bail and are expected back in court next month. Meanwhile the two farm supervisors, who have not yet been formally charged, are expected to remain behind bars before being brought to court on Tuesday.

One of the supervisor’s employers, who spoke to SW Radio Africa on Monday, explained that arresting his employee and the supervisor of another farm is merely an “attempt to flush us farmers out and arrest us.” He explained that the attacks against the Chiredzi farmers are nothing more than a ‘witch hunt’ that is set to intensify in the coming days. Justice for Agriculture’s (JAG) John Worsley-Worswick also explained on Monday that the arrests and the threat of arrest “is being used as an intimidation tactic to get farmers off their land,” as part of the larger land-grab drive across the country.

The renewed campaign against the country’s remaining commercial farmers has already seen more than 100 farmers facing prosecution for ‘being on state land illegally’. At the same time, invasions have been widespread, with top ZANU PF officials leading the attacks, forcing many farmers off their land and into hiding. The attacks have also taken place despite numerous court orders and even a SADC Tribunal ruling, protecting most farms from invaders, who have resumed the attacks in the name of state entitlement. The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) has confirmed that orders from the Attorney Generals office to ignore court rulings protecting the land were passed down last month, leading to the fresh arrests, evictions and invasions. Robert Mugabe last month also condoned and encouraged the fresh attacks, saying the white commercial farmers were ‘not welcome’ and should vacate their land.

The Prime Minister’s office meanwhile has reportedly been ‘inundated’ with both local and international calls about the fresh wave of violence on the country’s farms. The unity deal which saw Morgan Tsvangirai sworn in as Prime Minister, agreed to end farm attacks and encourage food production. But the government that was formed on the basis of this unity deal has done nothing to stop the ongoing farm attacks - which not only threaten the fragile coalition government itself, but also the government’s quest to secure financial investment in the country. It also stops the production of vital food, in a country where over half the population is facing starvation and is being fed by international aid organizations.

The Prime Minister’s office has now called a meeting of security and agricultural ministries about the farm invasions. The meeting, which is only expected to be convened next week by the Minister of State, Gordon Moyo, is set to be attended bythe co-Ministers of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa, plus Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, National Security Minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri and CIO chief Happyton Bonyongwe, among other security chiefs. Representatives from the CFU are also expected to attend, although, with such a heavy ZANU PF contingent attending the meeting, it seems unlikely that the farmers will get a fair hearing.

Meanwhile, many hundreds of farm workers have been left jobless and desperate as a result of the farm attacks, adding to the country’s already staggering unemployment rate of 94%. More than 80 farms have been seized since the offensive against the farmers began in earnest last month, and according to the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union, more than 700 families have been displaced as a result. JAG’s Worsley-Worswick also explained that many workers, who have been allowed to remain on the invaded farms, are now being exploited by the invaders themselves.