Intelligence agents and ministers taking farms ready for harvest

By Tererai Karimakwenda
31 October 2005

Last week vice president Musika added to his voice to that of reserve bank chairman Gideon Gono in warning officials who are taking commercial farms illegally to stop. Musika said that white commercial farmers should stay and be allowed to produce for the country, and Gono said those defying these orders were criminals who were destroying the country and should be prosecuted. But despite this, CIO agents and ministers have taken farms around the country in the last week.
Last Sunday the deputy minister for information Bright Matonga is reported to have taken over one of the largest citrus farms in the country. Matonga forced out Tom Beattie, the white owner of Lions Vlei farm near Chegutu, about 60km south-west of Harare. Hundreds of farm workers were also evicted and many have no place to go. The estate was implementing a ZD$7 billion fruit export project with assistance from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. According to the Zim online news site, Matonga already owns Mupandaguta farm in Banket district north of Harare. Matonga told Beattie no letter of acquisition was necessary since the farm was "state land", then came and broke the security locks on the gate and started removing the furniture with help from the police.
The commercial Farmers Union reports that the evictions now seem to be taking place on productive commercial farms that have crops ready to be harvested. A CFU official told us the evictions are no longer in Manicaland alone but are spread countrywide. They are not as violent as they had been in Manicaland over the last month, but they have been aggressive, immediate and done in the presence of police officials.

The tragedy is that thousands of farm workers are also losing their livelihood without warning. Many were born on these farmers and others are even second generation. They therefore have nowhere else to go with their families. Furthermore, there is no system in place to protect them since the courts can no longer entertain cases where farmers are challenging evictions. Challenges were nullified by the Constitutional amendment #17.