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ZANU-PF took a bold decision at its politburo meeting on Monday by ordering 11 of its members to give up the land they had seized in Save Conservancy in Masvingo.
All are senior ruling party members, sitting in the politburo and central committee while a few are MPs. Most curiously, one of them is Dr Douglas Mombeshora, the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement among whose responsibilities is overseeing fair and transparent allocation of acquired land.
Others are former Masvingo Governor, Cdes Titus Maluleke, former provincial chairman Lovemore Matuke, war veteran Joseph Chinotimba, Chipinge South MP Cde Enock Porusingazi, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Cde Tongai Muzenda and sitting and former lawmakers Cdes Ailess Baloyi, Abraham Sithole, Shuvai Mahofa, Samson Mukanduri and Noel Mandebvu.
Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Cde Rugare Gumbo, said people who got farms under the fast track land reform programme cannot benefit from the indigenisation of Save Conservancy again as this would amount to double dipping.
He said allocating people land as well as other means of production is consistent with the government’s five-year economic plan, Zim-Asset. But Zim-Asset does not sanction land theft, only fair and transparent allocation of resources.
“In light of the drive to empower every citizen, we decided that those who got land under the highly successful land reform programme should not benefit a second time before people who were not able to get the land. It would be akin to double dipping,” he said.
Established in 1991, the conservancy is 342,123 hectares in extent. It runs along a section of the common border between Masvingo and Manicaland provinces. It is co-owned by groups of foreign and local whites and has a small involvement of black investment.
Given its big European shareholding, the expansive ranch has to be subjected to indigenisation like other foreign-owned assets. Western embassies in Harare have taken a surprisingly keen interest in the hospitality and trophy hunting paradise. Early this month, German Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ulrich Klockner, expressed frustration over the ownership dispute of Save Conservancy, saying negotiations over that were taking much of his time.
The European Union’s top envoy Aldo Del Ariccia pronounced himself on the conservancy as well. There is high-profile interest over a key asset. Zimbabweans view it in the same way, but to have politicians who clearly have land elsewhere, helping themselves to parts of the conservancy is wrong. It violates the letter and spirit one-man-one-farm policy; it sidelines many who are keen to own land but can’t have it and it undermines the integrity of the land reform and redistribution programme itself.
The politburo stance is a strong statement to remove confusion around the indigenisation of the conservancy. We don’t see any disciplined cadre choosing to defy his own party.
Having said this, we look forward to similar boldness in tackling the wider challenge of multiple farm ownership across the country. It is well known that many politicians, particularly some in the ruling party, as well as wealthy people with the “right” connections, are still holding on to many farms despite frequent Zanu-PF and government warnings that multiple farm ownership is against the official policy of one-man-one-farm. We expect the party to order these greedy ones to give up the excess land they have.
But one gets the sense that the situation at Save Conservancy was unnecessary in the first place as it was clear to all involved that owning more than one farm was against government policy.
The Save Conservancy matter is the second multiple farm ownership story to break in Masvingo in three months. In late March, we reported that the problem was rife in Mwenezi and Chiredzi districts. Named politicians were not even using the farms themselves, but were leasing them for grazing yet they had sugar cane plots in Chiredzi and Triangle also.
Among the multiple farm owners was Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi, whom we are told by the Minister of State and provincial lands committee for Masvingo Province, Cde Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, has given up one property in Mwenezi. This is commendable.
We also note that Dr Mombeshora said he would only act if the provincial lands committee approached him with details of land grabs. We wrote on these pages imploring him to act on the basis of what looked like credible allegations even before the lands committee reported those amassing land to his office. Three months later, he is named in a land grab on the other side of the province.
The politburo is right to instruct multiple farm owners out of Save Conservancy.
More politicians elsewhere have to be told to respect the law and the people who entrusted them with political office.
Online Reporter