Minister challenged over Mugabe farms
06/04/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
JUSTICE Minister Patrick Chinamasa has denied allegations President Robert
Mugabe and his family own 14 farms totalling 16,000 hectares around the
country.
Chinamasa was challenged about the number of properties owned by the First
Family and his own seizure of a 600 hectare farm when he appeared on the BBC’s
Hardtalk programme on Thursday.
Asked whether he could confirm reports Mugabe owned 14 farms, Chinamasa
said: “To be honest I do not know what land His Excellency owns … but a lot
of the land that he occupies … for instance, they are running a foundation
for children and that requires some land.”
The Zanu PF minister was recently in London with MDC Cabinet colleagues for
meetings with British government officials and donor agencies.
He dismissed as inaccurate reports a well-connected elite of about 2,000
individuals now owned about half of the land acquired under the land reform
programme
“No one was complaining in the same terms when 15 million hectares of land
was owned by 4,000 white farmers,” he added
Chinamasa also confirmed Zimbabwe’s new Constitution restricts compensation
for land acquired under the land reforms to indigenous Zimbabweans.
Asked clarify the meaning of “indigenous” and whether this was not racist,
Chinamasa said: “Indigenous means black people; it is in the Constitution
and it has come from the people.
“When it comes to the question of land, ownership was racial for over a
century. Blacks were not allowed to own land in Zimbabwe.
“So (land ownership) was racially skewed in favour of whites and when you
seek to address the land question you would then be perceived as attacking
race when, in fact, that is not the case.
“The whole idea is to redistribute that asset which was previously owned …
15 million hectares of it previously owned by just 4,000 people.”
Chinamasa also defended his actions when forcing white ex-farmer Richard
Yates off a 600 hectare property and insisted there was no conflict of
interest in the manner he took-over the property and his role as Justice
Minister.
“We all applied for land and I was given a letter of offer. I legal terms I
had the right … I followed the procedures. The land is our entitlement; the
war of liberation was basically to reclaim our land,” he said.
“My fore-fathers were kicked out of all that land; it’s our entitlement and
I have no (problem) with that especially when we know the history of how
that land was (taken) from our forefathers. All my grandfathers died crying
over the manner, the brutality of the dispossession so I make no apologies
at all.”
Challenged on whether President Robert Mugabe – at 89 and having been in
power for more than three decades – should be seeking another term in office
Chinamasa said: Please let me say this (the question of) who rules Zimbabwe
is a problem for Zimbabweans.
“And when we go to the elections as we will do shortly, it will be up to the
people of Zimbabwe to decide which leader to vote for. (With regard to) how
long President Mugabe will remain a leader of Zanu PF … that is an issue for
Zanu PF.
“It is up to us, as Zanu PF, to deal with that issue. What we will not allow
is basically for other people to tell us who our leader should be.”