RE: – MEETING BETWEEN WHITE FARMERS AND MINISTER OF STATE MASHONALAND EAST, 31ST JANUARY 2018, REPORT BACK
I would like to start by thanking all those Seke District Farmers who attended this positive meeting and give a report on what I believe are the main points raised, especially for those who were unable to attend.
Firstly, the meeting was attended by The Minister of State, Mashonaland East, Hon. Minister Musibayana, The Chief Lands Officer Mashonaland East, Mr. Tsimba, The Chairman Provincial Lands Committee, and other people from the Ministers Office, and Ministry of Lands Office.
Unfortunately, the newly appointed National Lands Commission Manager Mashonaland East responsible for dispute resolution did not attend although she was scheduled as a speaker.
(1) The meeting started by introductions, with the farmers present standing District by District, and the Minister of State and Chief Lands Officer being introduced to the meeting.
(2) The first speaker was the Chief Lands Officer who briefly gave an outline of the process of Land Acquisition, i.e. Land Identification, Gazetting, both controlled by the Ministry of Lands. Then once the land has been formally acquired by Government, then land allocations can be done on that acquired land. The process of allocation involves (1) Application to be resettled as an A2 farmer, (2) Issuing of an Offer Letter to an applicant/beneficiary, and (3) Application for a 99-year lease against that Offer Letter, and (4) The issuing of a 99-year lease, or a permit. Any person occupying an acquired piece of land without (a) an Offer Letter, (b) a Lease or (c) a permit, is illegally occupying State Land and as such can be evicted from the land. Basically, the Chief Lands Officer highlighted that there is no change in the process of acquisition and resettlement and confirmed that the relevant Application Forms to (a) Apply to be formally Resettled as A2 farmers, and (b) for those who already have Offer Letters, Applications for a 99-year lease, are available from the Provincial Lands Office in Marondera.
(3) As stated above the Lands Commission speaker did not attend
(4) The Minister of State then gave the key note address to the meeting. He made the following points (a) White Farmers are important to Mashonaland East, and are now considered not as “white” but as Zimbabwean. (b) The past is the past and we all need to let bygones be bygones. The New Dispensation has stated in line with the Constitution that there will be no discrimination of any Zimbabwean, all who have a right to apply for resettlement, and access land. (c) The time of Politics is over, and now Economics is of major importance and International Engagement is key to rebuilding Zimbabwe. (d) We all now need to work together, be loyal Zimbabweans, pay our taxes, remit our income into bank accounts, and invest in Zimbabwe, and especially in Mashonaland East Province, our home. (e) There is to be a “Branding Exercise” of the Province which will dove-tail into the National Branding of Zimbabwe, and we are all expected to participate in that exercise, especially for Horticulture, Dairy, and Tobacco. (f) Production is going to be key, and we need to all be working together in our communities, sharing knowledge, and assisting each other such that there are not some highly productive farms surrounded by derelict farms in any area of the Province. (g) Any land found to be unproductive is going to be subject to downsizing, and any large piece of land greater than 400 hectares (Four Hundred) in agroclimatic area 2, or 500 hectares (Five Hundred) in agroclimatic area 3, are subject to downsizing, no matter who you are. (h) Any downsizing to be done will from now be done in consultation between the farmer concerned and the Minister of State, Provincial land committee and Chief Lands Officer in a round table discussion, to come to an agreed solution without the need to go to the law courts. (i) The role of the National Land Commission has been decentralized to the provinces, with the appointment of Provincial Land Commission Managers, who are responsible for dealing with all land disputes, in an effort to resolve these disputes as fast as possible, such that farmers can (1) focus on the business of farming and not fighting, and (2) resolve the dispute without the need to go to the Law Courts. (j) In terms of the 99-year leases there is a requirement for honesty and commitment by farmers to encourage “trust” in the investor and banking community, and that will come by farmers using the 99-year lease as collateral and honouring the use of the funding and repayment commitments made, and especially, no one must take the money and externalize it or use it for other purposes than it was invested/lent for. (k) In terms of the farmers who want to expand their activities, there is the facility in place whereby Joint Ventures can be negotiated and agreed between different farmers, which it is advised that the Joint Venture is then registered with the Ministry of Lands, for the Joint Venture partners joint protection. (l) Finally, the Minister of State implored farmers to stay out of politics, a game with no rules and very dangerous, and to keep arguments and disputes out of the media and out of the Law Courts, and most importantly to be Patriotic Zimbabweans.
(5) After the Key Note Address, the floor was opened for questions. The questions mainly revolved around, BIPPA land and its requirement; or not, to be applied for in terms of 99-year leases; can whites apply for land; Maximum farm sizes as they relate to production; the rights of farmers to take their grievances to court; tradability of the 99-year Lease and whether it is a bankable document or not; etc. The Minister, Chief Lands Officer and panel then fielded the questions basically restating a lot of what had already been said.
(6) Once the question and answer session was over the next item was the Way Forward! It was agreed by the meeting, that this re-engagement of the Government with white farmers was most welcome and that it was important that formal lines of communication are opened, and regular meetings are held. It was also agreed that instead of calling all farmers together for regular meetings, that a Provincial Steering Committee consisting of one farmer representative from each District would be formed, and it is this committee that will regularly meet with the Minister of State, bringing him the issues and problems of the farmers, and taking the message and results of discussions back to the farmers in each District. In terms of the two Districts on the West of Mashonaland East Province, namely Seke and Chikomba Districts, I am representing Seke District as the Beatrice Farmers Association Chairman, and Craig Campbell is representing the Chikomba District farmers. The names, cell numbers and email addresses of all the District Representatives making up the Steering Committee were recorded and the Minister`s Office will be contacting us all to inform us of the next meeting.
(7) There was then a Vote of Thanks given by Mr. Karumazondo and the meeting was closed at 16:45.
In summary, this was a very positive first step to re-engagement between our Provincial Leadership and White farmers, and basically the word “white” is to be dropped from now on as we are fully recognised as “Zimbabwean Farmers”, as declared by President Manangagwa. The fact that there are formal lines of communication opened is very significant, and that we can and are expected to fully participate and integrate with our district, provincial and national communities, farm, invest, create employment, develop, and prosper.
I would like to ask you to send this message out to anyone who is interested in going farming, back into farming, investing in farming, or in agroprocessing in our communities, and ask them to engage with the Office of the Minister of State Mashonaland East Province for assistance.