The president also said there would be a land audit to establish the level of farm use and castigated the benefiting farmers for using the land as a status symbol. Mugabe is saying this 15 years after the commencement of the programme and perhaps for the hundredth time.
He and his lieutenants have been saying the same thing over and over again and we seriously question their sincerity. There has never been any concrete action taken against not only those with underutilised land, but also the multiple farm owners among the Zanu (PF) fat cats who benefited at the expense of the really needy poor farmers.
What Mugabe did not tell those congregated at Kutama is that he is one of those who have multiple farms.
He might not be underutilising the several farms that he has acquired since 2000 together with his feisty wife, Grace, but it is clear that he stands in direct contravention of the one person, one farm principle that was supposed to be the cornerstone of the land redistribution programme. In any case, he should also have told his audience that one of the main reasons why there is glaring underutilisation of farmland is multiple ownership, which naturally leads to neglect as most of the beneficiaries got the land without raising a finger.
Instead of looking at that as being among the main drivers of underutilisation, Mugabe conveniently shifted the blame to “cellphone farmers” who he said saw land as a status symbol. Yes, this could be one of the reasons, but it is not the main one.
Interestingly, Mugabe inadvertently admitted that he and his government were also to blame. He acknowledged that “farms require huge capital and good management (yet the farmers) don’t have it”. Why did his government embark on the land reform programme without ensuring that capital and management skills would be available for effective farming? Can’t he see that this is the main reason why the land is underutilised? And what is his government doing to solve the problem, 15 years on?
There is no need to keep irritating us with talk on the need for land audits. As it stands, government is sitting on two comprehensive audits that were led by Charles Utete, the former secretary to cabinet and the office of the president, and former minister Flora Buka. No-one seems to remember them.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga