Gvt issued just two 99-year leases in the year 2017,nine 99-year leases were prepared for registration and still await payment and only three 99-year leases were sent for registration.

Government issues only two 99-year leases in 2017

After the murderous Zanu PF war veteran led scandalous chaotic land redistribution exercise that led to the torture, murder and forced eviction of white farmers from commercial farms in Zimbabwe, its alarming to realise issues regarding Zimbabwe Lands and Agriculture ministry .

The Ministry only issued two 99-year leases in the year 2017, while nine 99-year leases were prepared for registration and are still awaiting payment and only three 99-year leases were sent for registration.

Zimbabwe introduced 99-year leases to address tenure with regard to A2 model farms.

For a 99-year lease to be issued by Zimbabwe’s government, the Ministry of Lands must conduct surveys, draw maps and valuate the farm structure, but the ministry lacks financial resources to do this.

99-year leases are critical documents in addressing the issue of tenancy as, leases are bankable and enable farmers to apply for bank loans using them as collateral.

Currently, there are multiple land disputes between several farmers over boundaries and illegal settlements on farms . This should come as a rude awakening to the people of Zimbabwe that, there has been no progress on land ownership almost two decades after the land redistribution exercise.

Zimbabwe’s new president Emmerson Mnangagwa recently announced that the government will compensate those who lost their land during the land redistribution programme which will not be reversed, which is in theory great news as no one ever wants the land issue reversed as its a sensitive area that touches at the core of the heart of every Zimbabwean particularly blacks.

Farming should be open to all Zimbabwean races and tribes but never should the land redistribution exercise be reversed.

I have always said many farms are well in excess of normal land sizes for normal farms and a proper audit must be conducted, multiple farms taken back by government and redistributed to deserving people awaiting farm ownership.

A newzimbabwevision articles follower, Memory said Maybe Mnangagwa can finally convince Britain of their end of the bargain where they said after 10 years of independence they’d pay compensation to the British/white farmers for land reform (or…maybe they got amnesia too like Blair did when Mugabe confronted them about it) nevertheless the point being, my ancestors never got any compensation when the British government confiscated and took over the land forcefully from Lobengula and I’m pretty sure the decedents of Kaguvi & Nehanda never got anything too💅🏽 so, it’s sufficient to say; let’s let bygones be bygones “#FreshStart” and no one gets anything 👀 #IJS what’s fair is fair, Britain screwed the Natives of Zimbabwe over in the Lancaster land reform…

The Zimbabwe Government then under Robert Mugabe, implemented the Command Agriculture scheme as a strategy to achieve economic growth last year as an incentive to get farmers to grow crops and fill up Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Silos.

The Zimbabwe Government committed US$$162 million last season and aims to invest US$400 million in the Command Agriculture scheme through providing inputs such as seed, fertilisers, farm machinery and diesel to grow crops, basically necessary resources and technical skills, to produce specific crops to farmers.

This agricultural reform gave a record harvest last year from farmers in Zimbabwe, demonstrating that transformation is actually happening because of the scheme and the food security status of the nation is enhanced heavily.

This agricultural reform was put in place in 2016 and the programme was extended to include wheat and cattle production in 2017 with the eventual plan to roll it out across other aspects of agriculture.

Farmers who qualify are vetted mainly based on performance over the last few years. Once they are vetted and qualify to be included on the Command Agriculture Scheme, they receive inputs such as seed, fertilisers, farm machinery and diesel to grow crops.

The farmers in turn they expected to repay the agricultural loans from the government Command Agriculture through delivering five tonnes of the harvest each to the Grain Marketing Board.

The Command Agriculture scheme should be a simple , smooth flow, designed to assist farmers grow a great crop, harvest a big output and repay their agricultural loan without any impediments.

The process, involves, collecting seed then collecting fertiliser and diesel and receiving technical skills, to produce specific crops.

For most genuine farmers in Zimbabwe, it is quite alarming that only the well connected people, are getting Command Agriculture inputs first, typical of the very corrupt system that our new President Emmerson Mnangagwa portrays himself as being something he is keen to eradicate.

It is because of corruption like bribing officials, while those who are unconnected have to queue for many hours a day or several days before they are called up to collect inputs, that the Command Agriculture scheme is regarded as a corrupt systesm, set to benefit a few well connected people.

This is so sad because those with no connections eventually receive inputs much much later into the seaon and they fail to fully utilise the proper agricultural calender such as rainfall, weather and pests patterns. These poor farmers totally miss out on seasonal benefits because of poor harvests they eventually produce, yet they are expected to repay what they owe.

This leaves the poor farmers in high debt because they cannot repay Command Agriculture loans due to poor returns from their farming activities.

This is a public appeal from the farmers to the new Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step in and weed out corrupt officials as promised to the people of Zimbabwe.

Agriculture is key to people obtaining land which rightfully belonged to the indigenous. You yourself, President Mnangagwa, recently assured the world that those white farmers who lost farms in Zanu pf war veteran land redistribution exercise will be compensated according to the law.

By the same token, the people of Zimbabwe demand that the government should compensate blacks who were tortured, murdered and forcibly removed by white settlers on arrival from good soil and rainfall pattern areas and forced into tribal trust lands with poor rainfall patterns and poor agricultural land while whites set up rich , lucrative farms.

While we appreciate your inaugural speech about compensation to the white farmers or land victims of the recent Zanu pf war veteran led land invasions, we the people of Zimbabwe are disillusioned.

The question still stands on how you came up with a cut off point that only compensates the minority, foreign contingent of white farmers who forcefully evicted the hundreds of thousands of indigenous people of Zimbabwe from their motherland on what was rightfully their land.

To the Discerning eye new zimbabwe vision, this is absolutely wrong because we are where we are today because the land issue has been a sticking point in the indigenous people’s minds.

While we appreciate reconciliation, why should we the Zimbabwean people trust a government which is the same regime led by your predecessor Robert Gabriel Mugabe as you are already demonstrating that you are willing to put the oppressive white settler minority first, before the indigenous black majority.

Our forefathers suffered heavily under colonisation. You fought against this imbalance from your teenage years and we the people put you and your government into power to represent the indigenous people of Zimbabwe’s interests .

It breaks the people’s hearts to realise how deceitful it is for you to offer to compensate the already well off population of filthy rich whites who lost farms recently, the very same land forcibly grabbed from our black forefathers over a century ago
while the poor local blacks continue to suffer under a Zanu pf regime that you yourself helped set up, protect and lead all these years to now being the president of Zimbabwe, all in the name redressing a past imbalance. How can anyone trust you, your government or vote for you in the forthcoming 2018 election if already you are demonstrating that you don;t have the interests of the people at heart?

Lest you forget, Mr President, Black Zimbabweans need to be compensated too as part of redressing a past imbalance before you attempt to please the white farmers.
Your vote in the forthcoming election is about how you address the land issue, a thorn in the flesh for over a century. Mr President, before you rush into pleasing the outside world, put the the interests of the indigenous Black people of Zimbabwe, your people first in their motherland! If you are a registered vote, after reading this article you are now capable of making informed decisions about your future and that of your children and descendants.

Lest you forget, many Zanu pf stalwarts, Mugabe apologists and securocrats hold multiple farms corruptly gained while the majority of blacks continue to suffer and wait for land, while the black majority are still crowded in dry rural areas with poor farming soil.

The choice is stark clear, if Mnangagwa does not address this compensation to Blacks who were forcibly evicted from their motherland in order to pave way for commercial white farms and instead opts to compensate white farmers,..then its obvious, he and his Zanu pf do not have the people’s interests at heart and seek only your vote and to win the next general election in 2018.

INFORMATION IS POWER! I have for almost three decades, held a highly prominent role in Information dissemination in Zimbabwe, starting from soon after University of Zimbabwe graduation in 1994, working as the then National Head of Mass media and Training depart in Zimbabwe’s Government Department of Agriculture and Technical Extension Services (AGRITEX).

This was a highly demanding post which included training staff and farmers in agriculture, writing, editing, publishing and translation into Shona, Ndebele and English of staff and farmer literature and training materials because I’m multilingual.

Along with this well travelled job into the deepest and most remote areas corner to corner across Zimbabwe, I was responsible for producing and presenting a total of 7 Radio Programmes on ZBC National Radios 1, 2 and 4.

These programmes were, 1) Agritex Farm Diary on radio 1, 2)Tinokushevedzai varimi 3) Nhau Dzevarimi 4) Kuchengetedzwa kwezvipfuwo 5) Sibiza abalimi, 6) Ukugcinwa kwezifuyo and 7) Izindaba zabalimi. This gave me a great insight into Zimbabwe’s land issue, the imbalances in land and resources allocation created by the racist Ian Smith regime in favour of whites, while persecuting, marginalising and stripping indigenous blacks of their birth right,..land in the motherland.No automatic alt text available.

My biggest challenge in life is that I therefore cannot be that well informed yet silent at this marginalisation of the grassroots people of Zimbabwe that the new president is offering by compensating whites who lost farms yet ignoring the indigenous people’s plight.

The new zimbabwe vision editor would like to give credit to a well travelled but protected source who took the time to spend time on the ground in farming areas in Zimbabwe and compiled data from consulting the affected people before articulating the issues from the people as listed above.

INFORMATION IS POWER!-please join newzimbabwevision media platforms for regular updates, inclusive debate that has respect for all.
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