Gold panning behind latest farm invasions?
By Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 22 September 2010 18:49
HARARE – A new wave of farm invasions, particularly in Mashonaland West
province is mainly motivated by gold panning, one of the affected parties
has told Daily News.
Plumway Estates, a US$3,6 million consolidated farming project, says a
significant portion of its 2,3 hectare Chakari property is under threat from
a “new breed of land invaders” mainly interested in illegal bullion
extraction.
“These invaders are not interested in farming land, but gold panning,”
Ronald Chiwundura, the company’s divisional director has said.
“Our view is that if they want to engage in mining, they must get claims and
licences from the authorities,” he said, adding Plumway was perturbed by the
squatters’ audacious move a fortnight ago against government policy barring
occupation of black-owned land.
Although Zimbabwe’s unity government and the February 2009 dollarisation of
the economy has brought about relative stability, ordinary folks still find
an incentive in prohibited economic activities such as gold panning to
supplement their lives in the absence of tangible jobs and employment.
Besides, they would rather look or dig for the precious metal than engage in
actual farming – a widely suppressed, but known issue or phenomenon
reminscent of the days where some ”inventive” farmers would sell diesel
and other inputs.
An export earning company with agro-activities ranging from grain,
horticultural and livestock production, Plumway is owned by London-based
Metallon Corporation chief executive and businessman Collen Gura.
While there have been attempts to seize the property in recent years, the
owners have a Lands ministry letter asserting their rights to the farm –
bought in November 1996.
“Plumway Properties is indigenously owned and held title to the properties
before the gazetting. Against that background, the government policy is not
to take land from indigenous people to resettle other indigenous people,” an
M. Dzinoreva wrote on June 21 this year.
Observers say attempts to seize Gura’s estate – along several other
black-owned farms – expose the shoddy nature of Zimbabwe’s land reform
programme in terms of planning and implementation.
Ever since President Robert Mugabe’s government embarked on the disastrous
programme 10 years ago, rampaging mobs of mainly Zanu PF supporters and some
war veterans have been indiscriminately overrunning farms, including
highly-productive and locally-owned portfolios.
Apart from commercial crops such as maize at 300 hectares, baby corn at
five, soya bean 250 hectares and tubers, including potatoes at 60 hectares,
the CAG Holdings agro subsidiary, Plumway, is involved a number of value –
addition activities, including foods and stock feeds production.
The company also had a shot at European market penetration through Nellco,
where it exported fruits and vegetables from the nearly 890 hectares of
arable land at its highly-mechanised Kadoma district farm, among other group
facilities.