adminNduduzo Tshuma in Victoria Falls
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday rapped party and government officials that are protecting white commercial farmers who are still holding on to large tracts of land at the expense of the majority landless blacks. Officicially opening the 15th Zanu-PF Annual People’s Conference at the Elephant Hills grounds, President Mugabe said the practice was prevalent in Mashonaland East province where the axed party chairperson Ray Kaukonde was protecting 43 commercial white farmers whose farms were gazetted for distribution.
He said the government would carry out more audits to expose the rot in the provinces.
“Some farmers were being hidden with claims that resettlements had been established or there were no farms. Mashonaland East was the worst when there was Kaukonde,” said President Mugabe.
“The whole left side from Mutare, whites were living lavishly bragging that Kaukonde was protecting them. There are more than 43 farms yet the people are struggling to get land.”
The President said Mashonaland East was not the only province where white farmers were being protected by government and party officials as Matabeleland South was suffering from the same cancer.
He warned traditional leaders to guard against tricks by former white commercial farmers using dirty tactics to get back the land they lost during the land reform programme.
“The settlers from whom we took the land are coming back and chiefs, if you are there listen carefully because they (whites) are the ones who made money in the past, they’re the ones who got agricultural equipment in the past,” said President Mugabe.
“They go to the headman or to the chief and say we’re just going to help you, we see you don’t have tractors but they’ve tractors, they can plough four you and you say we’ve found our white man, let him farm for us.
“There’re lots of such clever farmers practically in every province. How long will they farm for you. Tomorrow, since you said farm for me, they say give me a section of your land and you keep this one.”
President Mugabe called on the people to organise themselves in groups and cooperatives to get assistance from the government in terms of equipment.
“Let us be ourselves. Now that we’ve some friends who’re assisting us, we’ve had others before and equipment was given but the equipment was misused. Just now we’ve had equipment from Brazil for ordinary people who come into cooperatives,” said President Mugabe.
“We were laughing in the politburo the other day because we had been told that the First lady was visiting some of the cooperatives that’ve been doing well and in Matabeleland South. She went to Kezi and we thought that was a cooperative for blacks but we were told it belongs to the white man.
“Yes it’s a green place, yes well done but it’s cooperatives that comprise our own people, composed of our own people that we’re bailing out using the Brazilian equipment.”
He said the cooperatives should start putting together monies to start planting so that they raise money to start paying for the equipment.
President Mugabe said the government would not hesitate to assist cooperatives that wanted to start irrigation schemes as long as they’ve water sources close to their areas.
He called for discipline in the cooperatives and discouraged bickering, as happened with the initial ones that failed.
President Mugabe, who attended a recent conference on Climate Change in France, said climate change is real and causing a number of weather associated disasters.
He said on the part of sub-Saharan Africa, the area was affected by wanton cutting down of trees causing massive deforestation.
The President said the planting of trees would help the environment and also in the generation of oxygen.
“Let’s not be in the habit of cutting trees,” said President Mugabe.
He said rural electrification and use of solar energy would also go a long way in the conservation of the environment.
Online Reporter