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Farm evictions provoke public anger
The Standard (Zimbabwe)
October 10, 2004

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/read.php?st_id=706

JOHN and Sophia Mudzingwa were among thousands of people who participated in the violent and chaotic land invasions which claimed the lives of scores of commercial farmers and other Zimbabweans since 2 000.

The Mudzingwa family left their rural home in Mashonaland West and set up shop at Little England farm about 35km from Harare along Chinhoyi Road. Then they moved all their belongings to the new home.

However, four years down the line, the couple and their children have lost all their worldly possessions except for a handful of clothes and a few kitchen utensils.

The evictions of thousands of villagers from the farms they occupied have provoked a public outcry and outrage.

Human rights, farming organisations and land experts have condemned the evictions of peasants who had settled on farms across the country during land invasions, spearheaded by war veterans and Zanu PF youths.

Critics of the evictions say they are ill-timed and will have a negative bearing on the national food output because they are being carried out when farmers are preparing for cropping and when school children are about to write their end of year examinations.

The evictions are most prevalent in Mashonaland East and West, Matabeleland North as well as Masvingo provinces.

John said: "We had so much faith in the land reform exercise as we thought after more than 20 years of independence, the government was finally honouring its pledge to give land to the black majority. However, our hopes have been dashed and what is cruel is that the government sent soldiers and policemen to set our houses at Little England on fire."

He said as Zanu PF supporters they were disappointed with the government's action.

Mudzingwa and his family are not alone in their predicament. Thousands of A1 farmers have had their houses torched by the police with the majority of cases being reported in Mashonaland West province.

The official word is that the settlers had moved onto farms ear-marked for A2 model farms.

Justice for Agriculture vice chairman, John Worswick, told The Standard in an interview last week: "What happened at Little England is also taking place in Mhangura where A1 farmers are being removed reportedly to make way for some senior people in the security services.

"Members of the police have already started evicting settlers from the farms. There has been a brief lull because they ran out of fuel. Most of the settlers are from Gokwe and they are being told to go back where they came from."

Social scientist, Professor Gordon Chavhunduka, said the chaos on the farms was an indication that the ordinary people were used to invade farms with the bigger plan being to resettle the elite.

"The pattern that has emerged is very clear: only the rich and powerful who have no idea about farming are being given farms. The whole exercise was only meant to benefit a few chosen people. The genuine land hungry people were only used to pave the way for the powerful before being evicted as is happening now."

He said the current levels of disgruntlement stemming from the evictions would continue to exist until the land issue was properly resolved.

"What the government is creating is a fertile breeding ground of discontent and there could be uprisings in future because of problems associated with land hunger," Chavhunduka warned.

Deputy police commissioner, Godwin Matanga was on Friday quoted in the media confirming that he would lead a committee to evict "illegal" settlers.

Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development chairman, Jonah Gokova, said the evictions were causing unnecessary suffering of the people of Zimbabwe, already feeling the pinch because of the current economic meltdown.

"People are being forced into a desperate situation motivated by greed. This has caused unnecessary human suffering, which is against Christian principles and it is an abuse of human rights.

Gokova said government was inconsiderate of the students who are supposed to write examinations this month as some of them might fail to write. "They are just reckless," he said.

Zimbabwe Human Rights Association director, Munyaradzi Bidi also blasted the government for negating its obligations, which include ensuring security of its citizens and also the rights of children.

"To a maximum extent, the fundamental rights of children have not been considered. The right to live is inherent, so if one destroys a child's shelter there is no upholding of that right," said Bidi.

He said failure by farmers to harvest any crop will not only affect the farmers but also the common people, who rely on their produce.

"Many people will not have enough food to last them until the next farming season. This makes us question the intellect of the government because it has forced its people to abandon the primary goal of ensuring that there is enough food in the country," said Bidi.

Roy Chinanga, one of the new farmers from Zvimba in Mashonaland West Province, a victim of the evictions, expressed outrage over the latest evictions.

But land expert Professor Sam Moyo said the evictions were necessary to enable proper relocation for the farmers.

"Its not all farmers who are being evicted but those who had settled in farms planned for A2 farmers. Apart from that the number of farms is insignificant," said Moyo, who dismissed the argument that the evictions would result in low food production in the country.

He said most of those who were being evicted had settled on the farms for residential purposes and not farming. "So there is need to resettle them."

Moyo, however, urged the government to assist the displaced families including the school children, who had registered for examinations as well as those who were farming.

Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU) executive director, Kwenda Dzavira shared Moyo's views. He said the evictions were meant to regularise the process of haphazard farm invasions because they were chaotic and uncoordinated.

"These evictions are meant to put the whole exercise in order," said Dzavira. He said there was never a time that was appropriate adding that those who have been affected will catch up with others.

Davison Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union (ZCFU) refused to comment on the current spate of farm evictions.

"I am not in a position to give an opinion on that," said Mugabe, whose organisation is rival to the white-dominated Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU).

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