KAROI - A new wave of farm invasions has hit Tengwe area near the small town of Karoi where black farmers given land under President Robert Mugabes controversial farm redistribution scheme are seizing land from fellow blacks they accuse of leasing farms to whites.
Some of the invaders claimed they had the backing of the local Member of Parliament Sarah Mahoka, who is a member of Mugabes ZANU PF party.
“We are getting all the support from our Member of Parliament Mahoka, who is providing us with food here as we want a portion of land that they (A2 farmers) have failed to utilise when they were allocated over 100 hectares, said Danson Mapara, a self-styled farm invader.
While Mahoka did not confirm providing food to farm invaders, she however defended their actions saying those who were failing to utilise land and were letting it to former white farmers should give to blacks who can farm.
“It’s ZANU PF policy on land that those who are leasing land must have it demarcated (and shared among other black farmers) as they have failed to utilise it,” she said.
However Faber Chidarikire, the governor for Mashonaland West province under which Tengwe falls, condemned the latest invasions saying: “Its unfortunate that things are getting out of hand but I will put an end to these invasions.”
He added that those who wanted land must forward their names to his office to join the waiting list. “Land allocation is now procedural and its not about demonstrations and invasions,” said Chidarikire.
Farm seizures have previously targeted land owned by whites which was confiscated by the government and parceled out to blacks under a scheme that Mugabe has said was necessary to correct a colonial land tenure system that reserved the best arable soils for whites and banished blacks to sandy and arid regions.
But many of the black villagers resettled on former white farms have failed to maintain production after the government did not follow up land allocations with financial support and skills training for the resettled farmers.
Some of the resettled farmers have resorted to renting out their new properties to the experienced and resource-rich former white farmers, a practice Mugabe has publicly spoken out against, threatening to seize all land leased to whites for redistribution to capable blacks.
Once a net food exporter, Zimbabwe has suffered acute food shortages over the past decade because of falling agricultural production that is largely blamed on Mugabes controversial land reforms.
Post published in: News