POLICE – Accused of doing nothing to stop illegal farm invasions
TOBACCO Auction – The crop used to earn Zimbabwe million of
dollars in hard cash before farm invasions disrupted production
As the farm evictions escalate across Zimbabwe, history repeats
itself. Farmers and farm workers are once again bearing the brunt of
renewed Zanu (PF) brutality, with disastrous ramifications not only for
food production but for the bankrupt economy.
Prior to the Presidential election of March 2002, the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), a government-sponsored union, was
active in areas where land invasions had occurred.
Its vice president is the notorious war veteran Joseph Chinotimba,
although he did not fight the war that brought about Zimbabwe's
independence.
Chinotimba is also vice president of the Zanu (PF) aligned National
Liberation War Veterans' Association and a member of the Zanu (PF)
central committee.
During early 2002, the war veterans' modus operandi was to instruct
farmers to immediately lay off their farm workers, and to insist the
workers vacated their houses directly they received their statutory
severance packages. The war veterans would then demand a cut of the
pay.
ZFTU officials were also reported to be involved in cases of extortion,
estimated to be depriving farm workers of more than Z$12 million, a
significant figure at the time.
Quoted in a Daily News (Zimbabwe) article of 5 March 2002, a Commercial
Farmers' Union spokesperson said this was a blatant move to
disenfranchise farmers and farm workers ahead of the presidential
election.
He confirmed that over 100 farmers countrywide and many hundreds of
farm workers had been forced off commercial farms in the previous few
weeks.
Although all incidents had been reported to the police, he said there had been a marked reluctance on their part to intervene.
Today's parallels
The situation on the ground today in Zimbabwe's decimated commercial
farming sector has many parallels, with police officers either failing
to uphold the rule of law or colluding with corrupt Zanu (PF)
officials, the party elite and war veterans.
On Stockdale Farm in the Chegutu district of Mashonaland West, the
Etheredge family is once again coming under increased pressure from
Senator Edna Madzongwe, president of the Senate, to pack-up and leave
their 6 000 ton citrus crop for her to reap.
Her latest strategy has been to bring in the ZFTU, an avowed Zanu (PF) ally with no affiliates among any of the major unions.
In the presence of Chegutu police on 16 March, ZFTU officials demanded
that the Etheredges pay off their workers or else face the looting of
their homes.
SADC Tribunal ruling
The Etheredges are fully protected by the SADC Tribunal ruling of 28
November 2008 and have no intention of making their workers redundant,
especially with unemployment estimated at over 94 percent.
Mr Peter Etheredge has lodged an urgent application in the High Court
of Zimbabwe to have the SADC Tribunal ruling registered. Earlier
attempts to do this after the ruling came into force have to date
failed to result in a hearing in the High Court.
The same ZFTU officials then went on to Twyford farm in Chegutu where
Senator Jamaya has taken the law into his own hands and illegally taken
over the farm. The officials threatened to adopt the same looting
procedure.
On Friday 13 March, Rob Taylor of Downs Farm managed to retrieve the
remainder of his possessions. The balance had been looted from his
house after the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) manager for Chegutu, Mr
Tendai Chasauka, took the law into his own hands and commandeered the
farm.
Mr Taylor managed to find a place to camp in the Bryden School grounds
to be close to his daughter who is a border there. He set up a camp
with tents and tarpaulins along with 10 workers who were also evicted.
Shortly before midnight, two policemen arrived from the Chegutu police
station and asked what he and the workers were doing there. He
explained the situation and they were sympathetic. They assured him
that he and his workers would not be troubled.
The next day at around 10h00, Assistant Inspector Bupera, also from
Chegutu, arrived with another middle rank officer and questioned them.
They seemed satisfied with the explanation and left.
Three hours later, two senior policemen, the most senior officers in
the district, arrived from the neighbouring town of Kadoma. They told
Mr Taylor and his workers they had only a few minutes to pack up their
possessions and leave.
Although Mr Taylor explained they were on private school property and
had permission to be there, the officers insisted they vacate the
premises without further discussion.
Shortly afterwards, Assistant Inspector Bupera returned with the officer-in-charge of Chegutu police, Chief Inspector Manika.
Other forces
They supported the instructions of the Kadoma officers and told Mr
Taylor and his workers to leave immediately. They said they would not
be responsible for "other forces" that might arrive to take action
against them should they refuse to leave.
Mr Taylor then phoned his lawyer, David Drury, who reassured him he was
not breaking any laws and that the police eviction and threats were
illegal. He asked to speak to the police but they refused.
Anxious to resolve the standoff, Mr Taylor stressed that he and his
workers had nowhere to go and that their eviction from the farm by Mr
Chasauka, who holds the offer letter, was illegal.
He explained that Downs Farm is protected by the SADC tribunal and that
there is also a High Court interdict preventing Mr Chasauka from
entering the farm.
For the past nine weeks, Mr Taylor has repeatedly reported to the
police that the situation has become dire on the farm with his dairy
cattle dying from tick borne diseases and suffering from mastitis as a
result of not being milked.
Mastitis is an infection of the udder in cattle and sheep. It is often
a painful condition and can even cause death. Udders become red and
swollen and the animals lose condition rapidly.
Despite the cruelty and the practical fact that milk is in short supply
– the country is having to import large quantities from South Africa –
the police have refused to escort Mr Taylor back onto the farm so that
he can at least treat and dip his cattle.
Homeless, without income
Mr Taylor and his workers are now in the invidious position of being
homeless and without an income. They are currently camping in the
school's car park.
Throughout the Chegutu district it is becoming increasingly difficult
for farmers to continue operating, reported Ben Freeth of Mount Carmel
farm.
Production is grinding to a halt on many farms and the continued
harassment is overtly supported by the police, lands officers and the
Central Intelligence Organisation, said Mr Freeth.
Prior to the violent land invasions of 2000, Zimbabwe had 4 247
commercial farms according to the Central Statistical Office in 1997.
Zimbabwe's vibrant commercial farming sector used to employ over 350
000 workers and offered shelter to more than 1,5 million people,
including the workers' children, elderly parents and other relatives.
By the end of March 2002, only 1 183 former farm workers had been
resettled while 140 000 had lost their jobs and consequently their
homes. Farm schools and clinics were also shut down as the Zanu (PF)
elite who took over the farms had no interest in maintaining these
services and the so-called new farmers had no capital.
A parliamentary report of 2007 noted that Zimbabwe had accrued a trade
deficit of US$5 billion over the previous five years due to the
destabilisation of agriculture.
Farm invasions are illegal in terms of Zimbabwean law. The targeting of
white farmers for eviction by the state or anyone else is a violation
of last year’s ruling by the SADC Tribunal. The Tribunal declared Mr
Mugabe’s farm redistribution programme discriminatory and illegal under
the SADC Treaty to which Zimbabwe is a signatory.
With respect to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) of 15 September
2009, Mr Mugabe made a commitment to ensure security of tenure to all
landholders and to work with his Movement for Democratic Change
partners in the GPA for the restoration of full productivity on all
agricultural land.