Debate over listed farms

Zimbabwe’s Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) is trying to reconcile a list of farms the government wants to compulsorily acquire for land redistribution with farms it says are already available for sale, CFU Vice-President Colin Cloete told IRIN on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe’s Vice-President Joseph Msika, who heads the government’s land reform programme, said at the weekend that the government was going ahead with the compulsory acquisition of 200 farms that have not been appealed by their owners out of 804 farms previously listed by the government.
The farms represent a total of 125,000 hectares in each of the country’s eight provinces for the resettlement of war veterans and landless black households.

But according to Cloete, “there are some errors” in the government’s list, with some of the acquisitions contested by the owners. “We are trying to sort that out now, so as to smooth the transition,” he said. “We are trying to prevent a big stand-up fight in court.”

He added that the CFU knows of 180 farms that owners have voluntarily offered for sale, some of which do not appear on the government’s list. “If we can get the international community interested (in their purchase) it’s a win-win situation for both sides,” he said.

Frederick Chunga, spokesman for the vice-president, told IRIN that under the constitution, the government has no obligation to pay for the land, only improvements to the property. He said the government has been in “constant liaison” with farm owners who are free “to come and discuss with the government during the acquisition process”.

Cloete said the CFU was trying to avoid a clash with the war veterans led by Chenjerai Hunzvi who, according to news reports, aims to resist their removal from farms they have occupied to the new land set aside by the government.

Cloete claimed that the veterans have attempted to muscle-in on negotiations with the government over the land issue, but in the aftermath of last month’s parliamentary elections, “I don’t think they are as powerful as they assume.” However, Cloete added: “What we don’t want is a confrontation where the war veterans shift to the property that is contested.”

Chunga denied there was any division between the war veterans and the government over the land issue. “We work together, they are part and parcel” of the land reform programme, he said.