“Zimbabwe was proceeding with the compensation of former commercial farmers
who were displaced during the country's agrarian reform despite growing
criticism against the policy, President Emerson Mnangagwa said last week,
highlighting that compensation for land improvements was a constitutional
obligation,” reported Bulawayo 24.
Mnangagwa said "the land reform is irreversible", adding:
"We fought for the land and we will never regret.”
Rubbish! The Zanu PF inspired land reform, like so many other things in
post independent Zimbabwe, was NOT what the nation had fought and many had died
for. The chaotic and violent seizure of white owned farms that started in
earnest in 2000 were for two reasons:
1.
Mugabe needed
something to give away to his ever demanding but wasteful Zanu PF loyalists and
their families and friends; with the country’s economy already in ruinous there
was nothing else left for him to give away other than land. Zanu PF has
maintained that the land would be given to the landless peasants but in
practice it was the ruling elite who benefited and the millions of peasants are
still stuck in the overcrowded and unproductive rural areas. Mugabe and his
family got no less than 13 commercial farms.
The Zanu PF cronies got the farms but failed to put
it into productive use resulting in the country losing its cherished position
as the breadbasket of the region. For the last decade, Zimbabwe has failed to
produce enough to feed its own people, for Pete’s sake!
Worse still, the total collapse of the country’s
agricultural sector was one of the contributory factors to the country’s record
breaking economic meltdown of the last 20 years. The collapse of the farming
sector, commerce and industry has send unemployment rocketing into 80% plus and
has yet to come down. Basic services such as supply of water and health care
have all but collapsed. Millions of our people now live in abject
poverty.
To crown it all, Zanu PF is using taxpayers’ money
to compensate the white farmers. Why should those who suffered from the chaotic
land reform pay the compensation when those who inherited the looted farms and
benefited from it all are once again allowed to go Scott free!
Of course, the ordinary people deeply regret Zanu
PF’s chaotic and violent land reform because it is NOT what the nation fought
and many died for! The land issue is one of the many botched issues in Zimbabwe
that will have to be revisited once the nation rid itself of the Zanu PF
dictatorship. The country needs to put land into productive hands to have any
hope of reviving the country’s comatose economic; it will therefore nonsensical
to allow the looters to keep the land.
2.
The chaotic and violence farm
seizures were used by Zanu PF as a smoke screen behind which to hide the
party’s sinister political scheme of using violence to deny the people of
Zimbabwe their right to free, fair and credible elections. The party accused
all its political critics and opponents including the ordinary Zimbabweans in
the urban and rural areas of being against the party’s land reforms and so the
violence that always flared up in the farms during elections would soon sweep
the whole nation.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and
political mess because the country has been stuck for 39 years with this
corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. It is ironic that the
regime has used the botched land reform to justify rigging elections and
extending its oppressive and ruinous reign. Fortunately for the nation, this is
becoming increasing difficult to sustain.
When Mnangagwa seized power from his
former boss and mentor, Robert Mugabe, in the November 2017 military coup; he
promised to end corruption and to hold free, fair and credible elections. He
knew the old worn-out excuses of blaming white farmers, western sanctions, etc.
would never get the nation out of the economic mess the regime had landed us
in. Alas, he failed to end the corruption and blatantly rigged the July
2018 elections and messed up the chance of ending Zimbabwe’s isolation and
economic meltdown.
Mnangagwa’s resolve to compensate the
white farmers is but a cheap bribe. He is offering the white farmers but a
fraction of what the Zanu PF thugs looted from them and, worse still, he is
asking the impoverish taxpayers to foot the bill because the looters cannot
stomach paying back a fraction of their vast loot. The world will not be so
easily fooled. Poor Mnangagwa, it is his last throw of the dice and it will
accomplish nothing!
The only way out now is for Zanu PF to
step down and allow the nation the time and space to implement the democratic
reforms necessary to end the curse of rigged elections and pariah state!
@Mahiya
ReplyDelete“It is not the fault of the ruling party or government, but it is the fault of the enemy who has made inroads and advanced in tactics to ensure that the economy doesn’t perform because of sanctions and many other issues that are being unleashed to the Zimbabwean people,” you said.
You keep wittering about sanctions but have never said how sanctions have affected the economy. You have never said a word about corruption even after Mugabe admitted the nation was losing US$15 billion in lost diamond revenue alone. Mnangagwa himself admitted last week that he has failed to end corruption and yet you continue rumbling on and on about sanctions. What a dimwit!
The country's liberation war attracted everyone across the spectrum of Zimbabwe society, heroes, cowards, opportunists, clever ones and empty heads. Mahiya is just one of the village idiots who played a major role in the liberation war only to retain home to be the new oppressor.
Pretoria knows that giving bilateral aid wouldn’t necessarily stabilise the Zimbabwean economy
ReplyDelete“Without addressing the enduring currency crisis, any bailout would be sucked into an economic black hole just to have Zimbabwe requiring more. The shortage of hard currency only begets more shortages,” explained Chikohomero.
Furthermore, a bailout would exacerbate South Africa’s own economic stagnation and high unemployment rate.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs no one would ever want to do business in the country. Any bailout would be wasted on consumables to starve off the chronic shortages which is not sustainable.
The biggest mistake SA has made was to lie about last year’s elections. President Ramaphosa knows that the elections were rigged and yet he is the one who said “the elections went well” and was calling for sanctions to be lifted. At least he had the good sense not to bankroll the bailout!
China’s Tsingshan Holding Group has expanded its plans for a steel plant in Zimbabwe to include a power plant and a lithium concession, Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister Winston Chitando said on Tuesday.
ReplyDeletePresident Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is trying to woo foreign investors, especially in mining, as part of efforts to revive an economy that suffered in the later years of Robert Mugabe’s rule.
Tsingshan signed a $1 billion outline agreement to build a 2 million tonne-per-annum steel plant in Zimbabwe in June last year.
Its original agreement included chrome, nickel, iron and coal concessions, but the new deal allows it to build a 600-megawatt power plant in two phases as well as to mine lithium.
singshan’s subsidiary, Afrochine, already has a ferrochrome operation at Selous, 85 kilometres west of Harare.
As much as Zimbabwe would like to see increased investor interest in Zimbabwe still the nation dreads to see the Chinese playing a leading role. China has played a major role in turning Zimbabwe into de facto one party dictatorship and hence the reason the nation loathes the Chinese!
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said he had set aside 53 million Zimbabwean RTGs dollars ($18 million) to compensate the farmers, but the full compensation package of $30 billion is yet to be mobilized.
ReplyDeleteAn estimated 4,000 farmers were evicted during a much-criticized Land Reform Program which was implemented in 2000 under president Robert Mugabe, who was removed from office in November 2017 after nearly 40 years in power.
If President Mnangagwa had done something to end corruption and kept his promise to hold free, fair and credible elections then Zimbabwe would not be a pariah state shunned by investors and lenders alike. The country would be enjoying meaningful economic recovery right now. He did not do these things and so the economic meltdown has continued to get worse.
He is offering to pay the white farmers whose cattle, crops and property Mnangagwa and the other Zanu PF leaders looted to win some brownie points in the hope that will fool people into believing Zimbabwe is no longer a pariah state. How naïve!
Why is Zanu PF forcing the taxpayers’ to pay the compensation when those who benefited from the looted assets are the one who should pay?
VP Chiwenga said most countries have less forex than Zimbabwe but they don't face the myriad of problems the country was facing due to purported foreign currency shortages.
ReplyDelete"We will have to take stern measures because we can't carry on like this as a country. I'm issuing a stern warning to those engaged in activities that undermine the economic growth of the country," he said.
This is typical of this regime! Instead of doing something to address the corruption, lawlessness, the vote rigging, etc.; root causes of the economic meltdown; the regime is blaming others. The regime rigged the July 2018 elections confident that it will rig economic recovery but that has proven a bridge too far. And now the regime is looking for scapegoats for its own failures and incompetence.
The only right thing for Zanu PF to do is to step down, after all the regime rigged the elections and has no mandate to govern. In the end, Zanu PF will be forced to step down!
MDC leader Nelson Chamisa told the journalists on Wednesday that his party will continue calling for genuine dialogue organised by a credible and Independent Convenor but if it fails, they will resort to demonstrations.
ReplyDelete"We have always called for dialogue and if it fails, we will resort to constitutional means which gives us the constitutional right to demonstrate and petition."
Chamisa' statement comes at a time when pressure group Tajamuka has promised to mobilise another wave of protests that will rock the Mnangagwa the Mnangagwa government.
Zanu PF has failed to end corruption and went on to rig last year’s elections and thus confirmed Zimbabwe as a pariah state ruled by corrupt and lawless thugs. No one would want to do business in a pariah state, we all know this after the 37 years of Mugabe rule. Zanu PF is illegitimate and the only way out is for the regime to step down.
So why is Chamisa calling for a dialogue with an illegitimate regime, other than to ask for a seat on the gravy train! If Chamisa had listened to all the advice and refused to participate in the flawed and illegal elections last year the nation would have been spare all this mess!
Indeed if MDC had implemented the democratic reforms when the party had the opportunity to do so during the last GNU, we would be a totally different country by now.
MDC leaders have already proven to be corrupt and incompetent and the sooner the nation wakes up to this reality the sooner the nation will get out of the current mess.
” We are the ruling party and if you want to talk to the opposition then please go to Mr Mnangagwa.
ReplyDeleteIf ED refuses to sit down with us we will use the constitutional means at our disposal,” said Chamisa.
The elections were so flawed and illegal, ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll. So can such an illegitimate process produce a legitimate winner? It is clear that MDC A does not care that the elections were rigged as long as they get a few seats on the gravy train!
Zimbabwe should have implemented the democratic reforms by now and would not be talking of rigged elections and pariah state. We are doing so because MDC leader failed to implement even one reform during the 2008 GNU when they had the golden opportunity to do so. MDC are running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, they do not care about ending the Zanu PF dictatorship as long as they get gravy train seats!
“The usual prophets of doom are declaring that Zimbabwe’s economy will collapse by June, 2019.
ReplyDeleteWell, well, well, this, of course, is not gonna happen. Economic challenges are there but then, only a person from outer space can declare that Zimbabwe’s economy will collapse by June,” said Gutu
Given the sorry state of the economy right now with unemployment at 90%, basic services such as supply of clean water and health care all but totally collapse, etc.; I would say the economy has collapsed already!
President Emmerson Mnangagwa seems to be warming up to having MDC Leader Nelson Chamisa in his government in a capacity that is yet to be agreed on.
ReplyDeleteSources within ZANU PF who spoke to this publication reported that Mnangagwa is afraid of a forced exit from the General Constantino Chiwenga led faction and has resorted to accommodating Chamisa so that it may be difficult to effect the plan of the military.
ZANU PF propaganda machinery has been on overdrive in the past days to send signals that Mnangagwa is warming up towards some arrangement with Chamisa and willing to meet him.
On Tuesday Deputy Government Spokesperson Energy Mutodi told journalists that Mnangagwa must meet up with Chamisa and they agree on an inclusive arrangement.
The only thing Mnangagwa can ever hope to achieve in including Chamisa in his government is to effectively shut up Chamisa. The economic meltdown will continue and thus prove that Chamisa’s claim “to have the key to economic recovery” was all hot air. With that point settled, Mnangagwa will be back to where he is today – the country in a serious economic mess. No doubt, the Chiwenga faction will be emboldened and demand change but so too will the ordinary people.
Chiwenga and his friends will not offer an solution to the economic meltdown because they have none to offer even now. The nation will be demanding real change and will not settle for yet another Zanu PF fudge!
The Zimbabwe economy is in serious trouble and Mnangagwa and company have run out of ideas of what to do. VP Chiwenga was at it again a few days ago blaming the business people for the soaring prices of goods and services. He was accusing them of causing the price increases when everyone can see the root cause of the falling value of the RTGS$! He called the business people terrorist and threaten them.
ReplyDeleteThe regime has certainly hit panic button and for good reasons; the economic situation has hit crisis point.
If Mnangagwa thinks the world will be fooled into believing the Zanu PF dictatorship has changed because the regime has given the white farmers US$18 million, small change compared to the billions the party thugs looted, then Mnangagwa and company are even more naive than we ever imagined.
The only way out of this mess is for Zanu PF to step down, a hard nut to swallow but, in the end, the regime will step down or be forced to.
We are stuck with a regime that has failed but will never accept that it has failed and we cannot remove it from office!
ReplyDeleteWhat makes the whole situation even more infuriating is that we had many golden opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship but wasted them all. Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the party is illegitimate but is in power because there are Zimbabweans out there who have accepted the regime as legitimate including the opposition parties. We cannot ever unite and agree on a simple matter like whether the elections were rigged even with all the evidence that they were rigged!
True the whites seized the land from the blacks but it is also true that they put the land to productive use fueling Zimbabwe's rapid social and economic development. The exact opposite has happened after Mugabe seized the farms giving it to the his family and cronies.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing against paying the white farmers compensation for the improvements. What I object to is that the taxpayers should pay the bill instead of those who benefited from the improvement paying it.