The MDC has called on the unity government to urgently carry out a transparent and non-partisan land audit, saying such an to establish who owns which land in the country was paramount to national survival.
The calls come after Zanu (PF)s greed was exposed in the media last week in reports that detailed how a select group of Mugabes ruling elite and other party loyalists is in control of about 5 million hectares of Zimbabwes most profitable land.
According to ZimOnline after a three month investigation into the corrupt land grab scheme, a new well-connected black elite of about 2, 200 people now control close to half of the most profitable land seized from about 4 100 commercial farmers.
The report details how top Zanu (PF) ministers, governors, security officials, and even court judges have all been rewarded for keeping Mugabe in power, by claiming large pieces of land stolen from commercial farmers under the guise of land reform.
The report says that all of Zanu (PF)s 56 politburo members, 98 Members of Parliament and 35 elected and unelected Senators were allocated former white owned farms, all 10 provincial governors have seized farms, with four being multiple owners, while 65 percent of the countrys more than 200 traditional chiefs have also benefited from the land grab.
Mugabe and his wife Grace, are the chief multiple farm owners, with 14 farms in total that measure over 16,000 hectares.
The MDC said in a statement that the so-called invader-sponsored land leases bear testimony to Zanu (PF) and Mugabes insincerity about land reform.
They knew, right from the beginning, that none of the senior officials who now control a whooping five million hectares of choice plots of this finite resource were ever interested in commercial agriculture beyond fulfilling a sucking, vacuum cleaner mindset of licking out and pillaging anything that moves.
The global political agreement (GPA), signed by both parties, calls for a land audit, a move that has been resisted clearly because of the corruption that has been labelled reform.
The MDC is now calling for an urgent audit so there can be restoration of full productivity on all agricultural land that would have been redistributed irrespective of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation.
The MDC also pointed out in its statement how Zimbabwes agricultural exports have fallen drastically because of the land grab scheme. ?Lack of activity on the farms proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the Zanu (PF) elite was never interested in agriculture, the MDC said.
The destruction of agriculture at the hands of Zanu (PF) means the country has been largely dependent on international food aid for many years. This week, the United Nations (UN) once again launched a humanitarian appeal for Zimbabwe, citing unresolved problems in the agriculture sector.
Announcing the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) for 2011, the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last Thursday said Zimbabwes humanitarian situation remained precarious despite two years of modest economic recovery.
It said problems in agriculture would mean millions of Zimbabweans would continue to face hunger next year. Food assistance makes up the largest part of the appeal, accounting for nearly US$159 million.
Post published in: News