But workers vow to defend it to the deathKrall, who has been living in Zimbabwe since 1976 was chased off his property soon after the Zanu (PF) December conference.
A group of Zanu (PF) youths visited our farm and asked Mr Krall to leave the property, alleging that people of British origins were no longer allowed to own business here because Britain had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. They ordered him to remove his dairy cows from the farm, said Timothy Ncube, the farm manager.
The former ruling party resolved at its conference to acquire all businesses owned by westerners, accusing the British and American governments of imposing illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe. The sanctions are non-existent. Western nations maintain only travel and personal financial bans against Zanu (PF) members and their supporters because of their human rights abuses.
Ncube said Krall had already fled the farm and was staying in Marondera.
All the workers, including myself, are still at the farm but our boss has left the farm for fear of his personal security and is staying with his son in Marondera. Every day he phones to inquire about the situation. I think the strategy was to instill fear in him, hoping that the farm would be deserted and then the war vets would loot the cows and property. Unfortunately that strategy failed because some of us are even prepared to die protecting this farm. Mr Krall has done a lot not only for his workers but also for the local community, said Ncube.
Krall is credited with improving the breed of the cattle in the area by donating his high breed bulls to the community.
In 1991 there were 750 dairy commercial farmers in the country producing about
367 m litres of milk per year. Now there are only 167 farmers producing 110m litres per year. The number of commercial producers is still going down.
Dairy farming is a very long term undertaking. It is very expensive ventures which require huge capital.
Post published in: News