Land grabs: The new ‘hard work’
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 18, 2013 in Opinion
YESTERDAY Zimbabwe woke up to disturbing news that President Robert Mugabe’s
wife, Grace, had seized an estate owned by ZSE-listed Interfresh Holdings
backed by a piece of paper signed by Mashonaland Central governor Martin
Dinha, a lawyer by profession, known as an offer letter.
Zimbabwe Independent Editorial
The occupation curiously came at a time when Agriculture minister Herbert
Murerwa earlier this month said government would stop seizing land protected
under Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements. Although
Interfresh is not protected under bilateral laws, it is a public company
owned by black Zimbabwean shareholders.
Though the news may come as a shock for many, it provides part of the
missing jigsaw after Dinha, during the official opening of the Amai Mugabe
Junior School in Mazowe last week, said more land would be made available to
the first lady for her orphanage.
For a country desperately in need of foreign direct investment, such blatant
disregard for the sanctity of property rights, which Mugabe once said should
be respected, is destructive and retrogressive behaviour by those who, after
years of running down the country’s economy, should be atoning for their
destructive policies by crafting policies to lure foreign investors.
This brazen violation of other citizens’ property rights further sends
chills down the spines of already unnerved investors. The occupation of the
farm puts a damper on Mugabe and government’s commitment to make Zimbabwe a
safe investment destination where property rights are sacrosanct,
particularly at a time the economy’s outlook is looking gloomy with GDP
growth expected to be lower than last year.
Although it has not been confirmed that the first lady wants to turn this
productive land into an orphanage, her actions have triggered questions
about the presidential family’s multiple-farm ownership in the wake of proof
that Mugabe owns various pieces of land around Mazowe.
Whenever a farm is occupied in the Mazowe area, the speculation is always
that the first lady is involved. Elsewhere, this would be a scandal of
ernomous proportions.
The latest move also brings to the fore the question; just how many farms
does the first family need? Elsewhere in this paper, we list some of the
land the Mugabes have reportedly seized. The case of former Standard
Chartered Bank CEO Washington Matsaira, which got little publicity, quickly
springs to mind. It’s a sad story of a banker with title deeds to his land
being forced to sell by the most powerful family in the country and watching
his investment go without payment.
Ben Hlatshwayo, a judge in the High Court, was forced to take legal action a
few years ago against the first lady after she had occupied his farm. The
dispute only ended after an out-of- court settlement, but the judge lost his
farm.
Perhaps Hlatshwayo aptly captured the occupation of his farm by the first
lady in court papers where he reportedly said the “unlawful conduct” by
Gushungo Holdings, the Mugabes’ holding company, clearly had “no lawful
basis for such interference, which conduct, by its very nature, amounts to
spoliation”.
And a pertinent question here: The first lady likes to expound upon the
virtues of hard work. What hard work is there in seizing somebody else’s
property without batting an eyelid?