Reserve bank governor slams new farm invasions

Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono this week called for an immediate end to a recent wave of farm invasions, warning that any further steps towards forced expropriation would seriously undermine efforts towards economic recovery.

Presenting his quarterly monetary policy review on Thursday, Gono seem to finger politically well-connected individuals reportedly behind the new invasions.

"[The land reform programme] was not [about] land for the sake of having it ... it was not about having the vast pieces of land and using them as weekend picnic venues," he said.

"Some people in the farming areas have invested in irrigation schemes using foreign exchange to import infrastructure using Reserve Bank money, and yet for some reverse reasoning we allow these precious investments to be invaded and destroyed," Gono noted.

The governor called for strict adherence to property rights if the country was to attract foreign investment.

John Worswick of the commercial farmers' pressure group Justice for Agriculture (JAG) told IRIN the recent spate of invasions had been reported in the fruit, coffee and tea growing area of Chipinge in the east of the country.

"All the farms that have been hit are exporters who have been generating some foreign currency for the country. Several families have been evicted and told to move off the farms. The lives of many commercial farmers are under threat around the country because several senior military officers have visited farms and indicated that they wanted to move in," he said.

But political commentator and chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly Lovemore Madhuku said that while Gono's remarks were well-intentioned, it was unlikely to bring an end to the invasions

"Gono is just a lone voice in the wilderness. If he could not stop politicians from making huge unbudgeted payments of gratuities to war [veterans], why would they listen to him on such an emotive issue?" Madhuku said.

Some observers say that fresh invasions were triggered by a recent attack on remaining white farmers by State Security and Land Reform Minister Didymus Mutasa, who referred to them as "filth" and "dirt".