War vets kicked off land
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by JEFFREY MOYO
Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:11
Chinese brick-maker moves in
HARARE – War veterans who were used to invade a commercial farm in
Dzivarasekwa Extension have been kicked off the land, and it has now been
sold to a Chinese brick-moulding company called Tyger Bricks.
In separate interviews, several war veterans accused Zanu (PF) officials of
being sellouts, bent on dispossessing indigenous Zimbabweans and using the
so-called land reform programme to benefit themselves and foreigners. The
farm, popularly known as kwaBob, was invaded by war veterans and ordinary
community members from Dzivarasekwa Extension.
An irate war veteran, Tirivangani Pabodzi, vented his fury at having had his
farming activities disrupted as a result of the farm having been sold to the
Chinese. “We don’t eat bricks, we don’t eat the horrible smoke that is
coming from these Chinese ovens of bricks,” he said, adding that the new
owners had evicted everybody from the farm.
“We have nowhere else to go. How are we going to farm in order to supplement
our food supplies? This Chinese project is not benefitting the people at
all,” complained Pabodzi. Other community members who spoke to this reporter
alleged that the new owners were “very brutal” when they ordered the people
to vacate the land, claiming that they were protected by President Robert
Mugabe.
When this reporter visited the farm in question, which is now Tyger Bricks,
a makeshift police post, mounted by the ZRP, guarded the entrance. In a
telephone interview, the director of Tyger Bricks, a Mr Tian, denied the
claims of the war veterans. However, he did confirm that his company was not
farming the land.
He said the property had been bought from the government, following all
necessary procedures with the sole intention of starting a brick-moulding
business. “We bought the farm for the purpose of moulding bricks. We applied
for the project that is what we are doing,” he said.
Political observers said this was a classic case of land resettlement being
nothing but a political football. “All over the country since 2000,
impoverished war veterans have been used as a battering ram to get rid of
commercial, mainly white, farmers in order to punish them for supporting the
MDC,” said one observer. “Where their presence no longer suits those in
authority, or where they get in the way of more lucrative ventures, they are
simply kicked off the land without a second thought for their welfare,” he
said.