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farm invasion File Photo
Denver Kisting
18 May 2010
THE Zimbabwean Government will have to fork out at least US$70 million – close to N$530 million – should a renewed claim by three applicants against President Robert Mugabe’s government and its “unlawful land-reform programme” succeed in the SADC Tribunal.
Norman Tjombe filed the case on behalf of Christopher Mellish Jarret, Tengwe Estate and France Farm.
They applied to the Tribunal to order the Zimbabwean government to pay not only close to US$70 million but to also interest of 30 per cent on this
amount, starting from September 14 2005 to the date of payment.
The applicants also asked for the Tribunal to order the Zimbabwean government to foot the bill for this legal application.
In the voluminous court documents, it is stated that Jarret, a Zimbabwean citizen, had been farming on Luchabi Ranch, a cattle and game farm situated in the Nyamandlovu district, “until it was illegally and compulsorily acquired by the respondent with effect from September 14 2005″.
Tengwe Estate was the owner of Fumeria Estate, a mixed farming enterprise situated in the Urungwe district, it is stated.
“Its title to the property similarly ceased on September 14 2005 as a consequence of the respondent’s unlawful land programme.”
It is further stated that a game ranch had been managed on Woodlands Estate A, owned by France Farm. The game ranch is situated near the Victoria Falls.
“It too suffered illegal dispossession of this property due to the respondent’s unlawful land programme.”
All three these applicants were part of the groundbreaking so-called William Michael Campbell case, of which the latest judgement against the Zimbabwean government was in June 2009.
“It is by now a matter of public notoriety that the respondent has persistently and contemptuously failed to give effect to the Tribunal’s
award in the main Campbell case. Also the Tribunal’s subsequent orders are flagrantly repudiated by the respondent.”
The Zimbabwean government has until the end of May to file answering court papers with the Tribunal in Windhoek.
http://www.namibian.com.na/
a waste of time if you ask me. however it only serves to remind Zanu pf that their past deeds have not been forgotten and someone wants justice. Although is it really justice? Are these descendants of settlers or they were closed (vakavharwa) into coming to Zim post-independence and investing, only to be stripped of genuine farms they paid for? If they are settler kids then my sympathies are limited.
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This is a big waste of time.They think we will watch while we are made to pay to get our land back from invaders?I doubt it.If they invested after independence after being invited by the gvt, then still someone sold them stolen goods and Mr Mugabe must answer questions as to why he was allowing people to sell stolen property in our country.The British gvt must also get kaked for trying to act big and abandoning their desccendants in their hour of need.But as far as these new claimants are concerned , we are not going to pay a single cent, from whose tax?
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You can say that land is a free gift from God and its Zimbabwean. Fine, but you should pay for the developments done on the farm. These guys built dams and beautiful farm farm structures including state of the art irrigation and roads. If you invite investors then screw them without compensation it is not right. It is wrong if it happens to your farm in England Abel.
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If you raid my homestead and go on to build beautiful dams and swimming pools and durawalls, dont expect that when I claim it back I will pay you for those developments.Who had invited you? You must be the one to compensate me for the trauma and inconvenience.
The farmers who had been invited to invest after independence are a different scenario but vamwe ava can go hang.
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Abel, are we avoidig some issues here? let’s break down the categories of white farmers we have;
1. Descendants of settlers who had farms passed down to them from father to son and so on within a family.
2. White farmers who bought their farms from other wihte farmers who had been in catgory 1 above.
3. White farmers who were invited to Zimbabwe after indepndence by Mugabe to take up farming as investment opportunities. Some even invested through appropriate government to government bilateral deals. I think we have a group of Dutch or German farmers in that category. These farmers were then caught up in the chaos of the land distribution programme when any white farmer was deemed a settler squatting on Nehanda’s lands. I also believe any money they paid went to the govt (or atleast to Zanu but as you know without separation of powers anything government back in those days was also labelled Zanu).
Now category 3 is a genuine business transaction which the govt has to honour. If you don’t settle this then the rest of your investor wooing is shot to pieces as people get nervous about the honour part of any deal they enter into. Given we are hearing of moves to grab mines, businesses, stock etc. the reason given for grabbing the farms was it is law and the relevant law says govt can compulsorily acquire the land. So even this indeginisation of businesses is law and govt must act. Will investors come?
We need to separate apples from oranges and treat each differently. Mugabe lost control of the land process. his lieutenants didn’t even know of these bilateral deals btwn govts or didn’t care. Mugabe should have stepped in and separated settler from investor but he wanted to pay his zealots and now look what mess we are in. I say we as in any future government to which we are tied through our taxes.
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I agree with what you have written above 100% Omuhle. But remember when a hunter brandishes him knobkerrie towards the rabbit hiding behind a bush, the bush is destroyed in the process.That is the category 3 you mention.
I agree with you completely that Mugabe should have protected those he invited to join. I happened to have had a discussion with one of the snt members involved in this land issue.According to him, they had identified the farmers who needed protection and for sure for some time those people got the protection.The problem that later arose was those same farmers then exercised their democratic right to be associated with MDC-T in the thick of things.Its at this point that Mugabe told them they were on their own and the rest is history.This is politicians we are talking about.Mugabe could not protect people who were proping up his opponents.We all know how he feels about losing power.This fella I am talking about also mentioned how they had secretly gotten the old farmers back on their land and according to him they had done this for some 92 or so farmers (This discussion took place around 2007)
So yes, I am sure Mugabe is aware of this scenario.But as for the rest who were there before 1980, those ones vat**** mubako and must go complain to Britain who are primarily responsible for the compensation.
I think one of the things that the audit on land must achieve is to separate the chaff from the grain, those who were farmers before 1980 and those who came after 1980.The two should be treated differently. Those we invited fair and good they stay, those who benefitted as a result of conquest tough luck, we have taken back what belongs to us.
On a different note, Mugabe wuld have been bonkers to ask farmers to come and do investments which would result in a couple thousand fellas occupying most of our land while we are squashed on barren land in the country of our birth.I suspect people from your category 1 and 2 above are trying to pull a fast one and benefitting from treatment of those in category 3.We are be vigillant on that one.
If I were to become a president, the thing I would do is ask those who invested after 1980 to come back and farm and those who were there by conquest to go fly a kite. That way people get land and the countries whose citizens lost investments can be apeased.
What do you think?
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Theft is theft. And I know what you’re going to say. The settlers in the1890s stole the land from the indigenous population.
But what sense does it make for the chefs to steal the land from productive farmers without passing the land on to the landless peasants in whose name this chaotic land reform was instigated? The chefs now have the land and have no intention of passing it over. Shouldn’t that make the ordinary, still landless povo mad as hell? Redistribution from one elite to another really isn’t the answer.
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What we will do is to take the land from the chefs you mention and give it to the peasants but dont for a minute think we are going to give it back to you my chief.Forget if thats the angle you are coming from.We will address those who invested but the settlers can go complain to david Cameron not to us.
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Agreed. However, we all agree that some semblance of land redress was necessary, we also agree that what Mugabe did was simply latch onto a genuine cause and politicise it and then reward his foot soldiers.
so let’s now deal with the chefs who abused the redress and bring them to book. let’s not go over the issue of why take away from the productive and give to the non or let’s let bygones be bygones.
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Land is not going to be given back. We needed to do this even though we could have done it in a more civalised way. We had been taking land since 1982 under the ressetlement programme. Why did we stop that and resort to violence?? We also need to have a land audit and share land equally. If white Zimbabweans want to farm they can aply for land like the rest of us. The government can still own land under ADA ( or what ever the name is)and still produce food. And this is why we need a govenment for the people. We cant stop progress because we assume we are not able to move forward. We prefer what we already know, we are too afraid of change to the extent that we prefer a ruthless leader who will toss us around. Shame aint it??
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“Land is not going to be given back”…..lol …What on earth is the TRUTH –
The sad thing about Zimbabwe is that two wrongs are pretending to be 100% right – better to point accusiong fingers at opponents than address the evil and flaws and faults flowing from their own dirty sewers…
. Each camp claims to represent the interest of the masses – one via false revolution that murders its own- the other via false democracy that follows a murderous Kissinger Doctrine
In the end Its money that talks in Africa and money that does deals behind closed doors. People can spout all the propaganda and rhetoric they are fed from the respective camps. SO WHAT…
Why argue about the land when you make no final decisions at the big table? ….HOW MANY OF US OWN A SINGLE MEANS OF PRODUCTION? We own nothing -so are discussing what – the property and wealth of b**** men who worth billions who regard us as nothing…whether we cheer their propaganda or not.
A plague on the houses of all these dishonest self serving hyenas – a nation ripped apart by two sets of scheming liars and dogs that have never sought to correct the evils in the fake revolution or the evils in fake democratic change?
In Africa so many live like dogs in poverty because others pay lip service about closing the gap between those that have everything and those that have nothing. While behind the scenes they work hard to make that gap wider. pathetic.
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Zim1, the problem is; some of those without are always clamouring for crumps and kill for scuds (as told by my friend , who is in Zim right now). These are the same pple who really need to be educated. Like some of our friends on this fora, i have noticed that they have now accepted us as a critical lot with valid points.
If we could try to convince our countrymen not to be cheerleaders but responsible citizens oozing with maturity and reason. This Morgan/Mugabe chete scenario should be discouraged at all levels-rural or otherwise.
Africa as a whole, starting with the AU, should not be a preserve of African Leaders only, but the citizenry. Whenever Zanoids and MDC are negotiating, its always secretive, y? They do not want to be accountable vis-a-vis “listen to me, ndati teererai zvandirikukutaurirai inini” scenario. When they say they are consulting the grassroots, it is a situation of ” we have told the other parties that we need this and that” to me thats no consulting but informing the grassroots the decision of the party.
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I think before any progress in zimbabwe we need to amend and change a lot of things in our constitution. As long as it gives that much power to who ever will be in charge it will only be a mater of time before they are corrupt too. I think our constitution needs to be amended. BEFORE we choose another leader.
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Ekezekeri, baba T. I’ve said it before. We need institutions that are fee from political party influence and these must them protect the people, not to have Chinamasa running around telling us that “If people attempted to unfree themselves, moves would be made to free them.” Who decides people are unfreeing themselves? And who says the measures taken are meant to benefit the people and not individuals? Almost like this farms issue – who said they invaded farms in order to give people control of their resources? How come Mugabe won’t give us title deeds to the land?
Every other country has institutions that resist political control and oversight. Do you remember the watergate scandal and how Nixon tried to get the charges dropped? He fired AG after AG trying to keep his scandal from reaching court but all of them kept coming into office and saying they would pursue the case to it’s end. When told to drop the case they resisted and got fired. Now that is a true separation of powers in action there. Did you know that Nixon is the only man to be elected president and vice president twice? Now I’ve heard people say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts. This is the point. These Zanoids have been in power so long they think anything they think up is law, never mind if it is thought of at Jongwe house and not at Munhumutapa. To them the two are synonymous. They take maize from state coffers and go and give anambuya kumaruzheva saying this is Zanu working for you. They commandeer aircraft to fly their kids to Honk Kong and have a state agent live with her full time and claim “on govt business” it will take time but we need to cure this but the first step is indeed the constitution. Also we need people to be aware of their constitution so rather than this nonsense about Border gezi training camps, we need to have our kids taught constitutional studies where they must pass their final school exams with a knowledge of what parliament is, how long it is elected for, how the president is elected, the duties of a police force and an army, the different courts and seeking redress, the difference between a political party and a government, the functions of an AG, Human Rights Act, presidential immunity and then when they know this they will apply it to their present lives and evironment and come kick Zanu into touch.
And if there be any within the MDC and any other political party thinking we are replacing Mugabe and Zanu with another despotic, murderous regime……ye be warned.
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