The strategists have become celebrated masters of deception. They simulate a genuine concern for the people and come up with policies and actions that, at the surface, appear as if they are meant to benefit especially the ordinary person.
What is disgusting, when you look closely, is that Zanu (PF) fat cats are managing to convince gullible voters, and even some sections of the regional and international communities, that they are laying feathers on the floor for the downtrodden, when in fact they are the ones benefiting most, if not exclusively.
The fast track land “redistribution” programme was a legendary lie in which the party simulated the empowerment of the people. The reality, of course, was that it was a knee jerk reaction to the formation of the MDC.
Further, those who mooted the idea of grabbing the farms from commercial farmers saw a ready opportunity in hoarding all the productive land for themselves, while condemning the poor to unyielding plots in marginal areas.
Painfully, the party has managed to convince many stakeholders that the programme came from a real desire to empower the people, despite telling evidence that it is nothing but a political self-preservation and get-rich-quick-while-people-are-looking-away method.
Then came the indigenisation programme. That, again, as many have already pointed out, is nothing but a scheme for Zanu (PF) to revive and sustain its hold on power.
A lot has already been said about the fallacy in grabbing a 51 percent stake in foreign owned mines and other business concerns. It is perhaps the current outcry and debate around the grabbing of conservancies in Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland provinces that need to be further prodded in order to expose the hypocrisy in Zanu (PF).
Needless to say, the looting of the conservancies is a megaphone sales stunt by the party, which would have us believe that it is part of the empowerment drive. The contrary, of course, is what is true.
Put plainly, the Zanu (PF) fat cats are inviting the hungry to the table and eating the food on their behalf. Some of the drooling hapless guests, are actually fooled into thinking that it is their stomachs that are filling up.
There is absolutely nothing empowering about the grabbing of the conservancies, which has seen at least 299 people getting 25-year leases to reap where they never sowed.
To start with, all the individuals who got the leases are known Zanu (PF) stalwarts or are affiliated to the party. These include (listen to this) Vice President John Nkomo, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Walter Mzembi, Stan Mudenge, Shuvai Ben Mahofa, Claudious Makova, Josiah Hungwe, Johannes Tomana—the AG—and Fortune Charumbira (president of the Chief’s Council).
No empowerment model makes sense if it is so sectarian; empowerment is supposed to be broad-based and all-encompassing. Thus, the conservancies grabbing craze gets mired in the same deficiency as the fast track land “reform” programme.
It is only now that we are discovering that the looting of conservancies was formalized as far back as 2007, long before the formation of the coalition government. Obviously, there was no transparency in the way it was done. There was no public announcement to invite deserving people to apply for leases.
I find it particularly disgusting that Walter Mzembi is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the looting frenzy. Together with one Noel Farai, if ever that person exists, he owns 16,975 hectares of Eaglemont in Chiredzi, when on average the other beneficiaries have about 4,000 hectares each.
This is in spite of the fact that he has been making a lot of noise about how the lootocracy has been driving away tourism. As the Minister of Tourism, he should have surely fared far much better than that! As mushrooms prosper in darkness, so does Zanu (PF) and its fat cats.
The only difference is that mushrooms are a delicacy that people eat, while Zanu (PF) regards itself a delicacy that eats people. The party has a ways of living off the sweat of other people.
Perhaps the most revealing aspect about the grabbing drama are the words uttered by Shuvai Ben (indeed) Mahofa.
These are her words, according to a local daily: “In fact, I am realising that farming is a waste of time, there is a lot of money to be made in hunting. Business is very good and there is free money to be made out there. You just sit and wait for whites to come and pay for hunting and make money.”
Well said, Ben. For feedback, please write to majonitt@gmail.com
Post published in: Analysis