Renowned Zimbabwean journalist and filmmaker Hopewell Chin’ono says the country’s land reform programme, which was accelerated by the Robert Mugabe administration around 2000, needs to be redone.
Chin’ono said that productive farmers should receive land, rather than allowing politically connected individuals to acquire large tracts of land that they subsequently lease out.
Chin’ono’s remarks came in response to a statement issued on Tuesday, October 1, by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi concerning allegations that community members invaded Strathmore Farm in Banket and stole potatoes.
Commissioner Nyathi said the farm belongs to Retired High Court Judge Vernanda Cecil Ziyambi and is currently leased to Jonathan Timothy Mackwade for potato farming.
He also said preliminary investigations suggest the farm manager authorised farm workers and locals to collect damaged potatoes from the harvested field the day after the harvest was completed.
In his comments, Chin’ono asserted that land is currently held by the wrong people and should be reallocated to those who will use it productively. Wrote Chin’ono on X:
To my South African friends and followers on this timeline who are always asking me why Zimbabweans come to South Africa to do menial jobs when they have land in Zimbabwe. Below is your answer.
What you are reading in the document in the quoted tweet (statement by Commissioner Nyathi) explains what went wrong with land reform in Zimbabwe.
Land is given to those connected to ZANU-PF, but they are not necessarily farmers.
They then rent the farms to white farmers who were kicked off the land, so what happened in Zimbabwe is not land reform, but thugs taking over land and renting it out instead of giving it to people with expertise to use it.
In a normal society, a judge who is not a farmer would not have been given land only to rent it out to the real farmer.
This makes food in Zimbabwe more expensive because the farmer has to pay rent to someone who produces nothing and got the land for free without paying a penny.
Judges receive these farms as a thank you for passing illegal rulings against the regime’s political opponents!
Land is in the hands of the wrong people.If the real farmer had been given access to this state land, the cost of potatoes would be cheaper because they wouldn’t have to factor in rent paid to the “farmer-owner.”
Land reform will have to be redone in Zimbabwe in a way that is sustainable, fair, and economic.
What ZANU PF did is akin to invading a plane without knowing how to fly it, then asking the pilot to use it for a while in exchange for rentals.
The real farmer can’t develop the farm because it is not in their name, as they can be kicked off by the official owner.
Land is in the hands of a ZANUPF mafia that charges protection fees/rentals to white farmers to allow them to continue farming.
This practice perpetuates historical inequalities and has negative economic consequences for the country.
The cost of food production rises due to this added layer of rent, and the overall productivity of the agricultural sector suffers because experienced farmers are not given the opportunity to fully utilise their skills and resources.
A sustainable and equitable land reform process would prioritise allocating land to those with the knowledge and experience to use it effectively.
This would not only improve agricultural productivity but also help address historical injustices and empower previously disadvantaged communities.
Today, the majority of the previously disadvantaged are still disadvantaged. I was one of the top three Boer goat breeders in Zimbabwe from around 2015 doing it at my ancestral plot.
A former governor for Mashonaland East asked me to join ZANUPF if I wanted land. Of course, I politely said no.
The judge can’t own land, it is state land. She has a lease, and because she is part of the ruling elite, she can rent it out and make money from something she didn’t pay a penny for. Her husband, Tarisai Ziyambi, was also a government minister.
If people who can produce and have the production expertise have to beg people who can’t produce for land, it is a Banana Republic. Zimbabwe is a crime scene!!!!
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