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Zimbabwe is now in its 14th year of a historic land reform programme, a programme executed against stiff resistance from local white farmers and their European kith and kin and American, Australian and Canadian cousins, all led by Britain which successfully campaigned for the imposition of punitive sanctions on Zimbabwe, albeit outside the purview of the United Nations.
Zimbabwe’s development programmes are still hobbled by those iniquitous sanctions, which remain to this day.
It is, therefore, with great disappointment that we record once again that ‘Rhodesians never die’, which means as a country we have a long war ahead.
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), one of the whitest institutions which formed the bastion of the racist Rhodesian economy, continues to stalk the Zanu-PF Government like a hungry vulture. This week it revealed that it had drafted a constitution which requires all indigenous farmers’ unions to commit mass suicide so that they could be resurrected under its Federation of Agricultural Unions.
Our shock stems from three aspects.
First, we thought the CFU was long dead. Apparently it is not. Second, we are shocked by the insolence of the rump CFU telling indigenous farmers’ unions with membership of around 300 000 to come and join it, whatever is left of the 4 500 members.
Third, to crown the insult, as illiterate niggers, indigenous farmers are being told that a constitution for the Federation has already been drafted and that “a technical committee” is already working on the modalities of bringing the unions together. Black Zimbabwean farmers must simply endorse.
CFU president Hendrik Olivier said the new Federation would give farmers an opportunity to work together as well as speak with one voice. “There are some imbalances in the land reform that we need to address,” he said. “We need to tidy up what has happened to our constituency, bringing the land reform to a conclusion in terms of compensation.”
As we reported in this paper yesterday, the indigenous farmers’ unions have spurned the CFU’s insulting proposal, although Zimbabwe Farmers Union vice-president Berean Mukwende indicated that they “worked with CFU on some projects”.
Be very wary.
Our concern is well-grounded. White former farmers in general and the CFU in particular have never hidden their opposition and hatred for the land reform programme, which is why they worked closely with the MDC to find a political solution if the programme could not be stopped by the courts.
That having failed, they have gone to all the courts from the sadc Tribunal to South African courts and beyond to smear the programme to have it reversed.
It has never been their intention to speak with one voice with Government on the way forward.
Instead, they have fought over the past 14 years to have the Government out.
We like their determination.
It is a warning to Government that it is not enough to secure this historic undertaking to just have a clause in the new Constitution stating that it is irreversible.
The CFU simply doesn’t believe that, otherwise the few of them who remain should have joined the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union. They have instead opted to reassert their relevance and fighting tenacity by telling indigenous farmers’ unions that they remain the Big Brother who must direct and lead all farming operations.
We can only hope that those who cooperate with the CFU “on some projects” have their eyes wide open and are not getting themselves entangled in some legal technicalities which may force them to surrender their land in future.
This partly explains why Government is reluctant to issue out fully tradable farm leases at this delicate stage.
Online Reporter