Zimbabwe starts reclaiming land seized from white farmers
By KITSEPILE NYATHI in HararePosted Friday, May 4 2012 at 17:09
Zimbabwe has started repossessing underutilised pieces of land from
beneficiaries of its controversial land reforms that started over a decade
ago.
President Robert Mugabe justified the violent land grabs from white
commercial farmers by saying it was meant to correct colonial imbalances.
Critics said most of the productive farms were parcelled out to the
88-year-old leader’s cronies who did not have any resources or interest in
farming.
Advocate Martin Dinha, the governor for Mashonaland Central province, which
is a prime farming area, said the repossessed plots will be allocated to
landless people.
“President Mugabe is on record saying farmers not utilising land should be
removed and once he says something it becomes policy,” he said.
“There is no going back on this thrust and offer letters will continue to be
issued out as long as there are people who still need land.
Mr Dinha added: “Land should be allocated according to production levels,
land utilisation capacity and resources available. I am concerned with
people who own large hectares of land but are not fully utilising it.”
Zimbabwe’s agriculture production has plummeted over the years as the new
farmers continue to struggle to access resources to modernise their farming.
A number of frustrated black farmers have also resorted to leasing their
pieces of land to the former commercial farm owners drawing President Mugabe’s ire.