Down on the farm, yet again

Some believe that Zimbabwe's troubles began with Mugabe's first land grab - but if so, he still hasn't learned his lesson.

Two agricultural stories came my way this week, and they each illustrate how easy it is, when trying to redistribute land, to shoot yourself in the foot. And I know regular readers will be pleased to hear that the first limping victim of such an accident is our comic hero Didymus Mutasa. Yes, the same Didymus who rejoices in the title of Minister for Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, and who recently distinguished himself with the discovery of a natural diesel spring in the bush.

You won't be exactly overcome with shock horror when you learn that Didymus has been on the fiddle. To be exact, he's targeted some of the few remaining white farmers, extorting large amounts of cash from them in exchange for letting them keep their land.

A foolproof fiddle? Well, not if you're as big a fool as Didymus. Once again the oaf has overplayed his hand. After receiving amounts of US$85,000 and US$74,000 from two Mashonaland West farmers in 2006, he went back recently for more. threatening action by so-called War Veterans. And the farmers were having none of it.

Instead of paying up, they grassed him up. At a meeting with Dr. Misheck Sibanda, Chief Secretary to the President and the Cabinet, they handed over receipts and bank slips recording the deposit of thousands of dollars in the foreign currency account of one D.N.E. Mutasa.

The President has now seen the evidence. Whether he will act, indeed whether he cares one jot what his disciples do as long as it doesn't interfere with his own wholesale robbery of the country, is open to question. But my sources tell me that Didymus fears he might. And is having sleepless nights as a result.

Good.

Not so good is the news that Mugabe himself is using farm land as a weapon against the innocent once more. This time his targets are some of the black farmers who benefited from the original grab, and were given previously white-owned farms.

I say "some" because the victims have been carefully chosen. They - and there are said to be about 1000 of them - all do their farming in Matabeleland and the Midlands - strongholds of the opposition Movement for Democatic Change (MDC).

These ungrateful wretches have been told in letters this week that they have 72 hours to get off the land they thought was theirs, and another month within which they must repay any government loans. The official reason for the evictions is that those particular farms are "grossly under-utilized" - a description that might be better applied to those once-prosperous farms now owned by government ministers and growing progressively more dilapidated while their proprietors sit on their verandahs at weekends and drink beers.

In the place of the evicted families will come new farmers, pathetically grateful for Zim 1's generosity, and happy to vote the government ticket come election day.

And so it goes. Reliable statistics say that since 2000, when Mugabe began his land reforms, Zimbabwe has seen a more than 75 per cent slump in agricultural production. That's land reform, Mugabe-style.

Comments

[Sixpence Masuku]

An excellent article. The Mugger won't touch Didymus because he's the only friend he has left. But isn't it amazing how this blantent thievery goes on. just because they have guns they think they are all powerful. The problem for them is that one day it will catch up with them.

[Michael Wilton]

I agree Mr Masuku, Mugabe hasn't changed from his ZANLA days, ZANU-PF is merely a sham front for the continuation of his actions from the 1970's, but with no acknowledged enemies to fight his actions have gone from those of a borderline freedom fighter to those of an outright terrorist (albeit a terrorist who can chop and change the laws to make his actions legal).