WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-11-30 Time: 17:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
By Alex Bell
A select group of Mugabe’s ruling elite and other party loyalists is in control of about 5 million hectares of Zimbabwe’s most profitable land, totalling the size of a small country.
These details are contained in a report by ZimOnline, after a three month investigation into the corrupt land grab scheme, which Mugabe has always insisted was for the benefit of the nation.
The ZimOnline report shows that, contrary to Mugabe’s claims, a “new well-connected black elite of about 2,200 people now control close to half of the most profitable land seized from about 4 100 commercial farmers.”
The report said that Mugabe and his top allies control nearly 40 percent of the 14 million hectares of land seized from white-owned farms since the land grab began in 2000, which “if put together are the size of Slovakia.”
Investigations by ZimOnline show that while at least 150,000 ordinary people may have had access to farms seized for ‘redistribution’, the majority own only between 10 to 50 hectares of property each.
ZimOnline said in its report that “these ordinary people only accessed land on the strengths of their ZANU PF party membership cards.”
In contrast, 2,200 well connected people, including Mugabe, his wife Grace, their top allies, friends and relatives, have shared out the choice farms amongst themselves. The properties span 250 hectares to as much as 4,000 hectares in the most fertile farming regions in the country, “in clear violation of the government’s own policy of capping farm sizes.”
All of ZANU PF’s 56 politburo members, 98 Members of Parliament and 35 elected and unelected Senators were allocated former white owned farms, all 10 provincial governors have seized farms, with four being multiple owners, while 65 percent of the country’s more than 200 traditional chiefs have also benefited from the land grab.
Mugabe and his wife Grace, are the chief multiple farm owners, with 14 farms in total that measure over 16,000 hectares. Mugabe’s deputy, Joyce Mujuru, along with her husband former army general Solomon Mujuru, and their relatives, own at least 25 farms with a combined size of more than 105 000 hectares.
Another of Mugabe’s deputies, John Nkomo, is also a multiple farm owner and controls the lucrative Jijima wildlife sanctuary in north-west Zimbabwe, after he muscled out a fellow black farmer.
“This exercise has nothing to do with land reform because it is clear that land has been transferred to high profile people and not the landless,” said John Worsley-Worswick from Justice for Agriculture (JAG).
Worsley-Worswick told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that the land grab has been nothing more than “an insidious political programme that has allowed and legitimised looting.” He added that the land “beneficiaries” are “the illegal recipients of stolen land.”
The ZimOnline report also showed how the select farm ownership scheme has been carried out without complete impunity. There has been no action taken against the multiple farm owners, despite three previous government land audits which fingered top ZANU PF officials and recommended that they return the farms.
“Investigations show that, for example Edna Madzongwe, Senate Speaker and a Mugabe relative, has since 2000 seized six productive commercial farms in Chegutu district, Mashonaland West province, farms which she has all but run down,” ZimOnline said.
These are Aitape, Cobun Estates, Bourne, Mpofu Farm, Reyden and Stockdale Farm, which she seized from an elderly white couple last year. The farms, which span 5,200 hectares in total, are all in Chegutu, which has been devastated by farm attacks over the past ten years.
The report also details how the corruption filters down to smaller scale ZANU PF loyalists, whose acquired wealth has been the result of theft. A government audit carried out in 2002 showed that former Mashonaland West provincial governor Peter Chanetsa at one point had five farms spanning 4,000 hectares, while former Mines Minister and legislator Chindori Chininga, Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo own or have owned multiple farms at some point.
The land takeovers have for years been singled out at as Mugabe’s method of paying back those who have kept him in power and even top security officials have been rewarded.
ZimOnline said that, of the nearly 200 officers from the rank of Major to the Lieutenant General in the Zimbabwe National Army, 90 percent have farms in the most fertile parts of the country. This is replicated in the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prisons Service, Air Force of Zimbabwe and CIO.
“In total there are 400 officers in the security services alone who are known to have farms above 250 hectares, often seized at gun point from the previous white owners while several lower ranking officers and war veterans also have smaller holdings,” ZimOnline said.
Constantine Chiwenga, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, has two farms near Harare, including the 1,200 hectare Chakoma Estates. Air Marshall Perence Shiri meanwhile has two farms, the 1,460 hectare Eirin farm in Marondera, which he seized after evicting 96 landless families, and the 1,950 hectare banana producing Bamboo Creek in Shamva. Augustine Chihuri, Mugabe’s loyal Police Commissioner General owns Woodlands Farm in Shamva.
At the same time, Mugabe has ensured that the law remains on his side. Sixteen Supreme Court and High Court Judges, including Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, who owns the 1 000 hectare Estes Park farm in Mazowe/Concession district, also own large farms ranging between 540 to 1380 hectares. It was Chidyausiku who last week dismissed an application for a moratorium on ongoing farm invasions, essentially giving the illegal seizures the green light.
JAG’s Worsley-Worswick said that an independent land audit is necessary to start rectifying the chaos of the past ten years, but explained this is not just about land anymore.
“This goes way beyond just the value of farms lost,” Worsley-Worswick said. “There have been serious human rights violations, great losses of assets and equipment and all this needs to be part of a larger audit of the situation.”
LIST OF ZIMBABWE’S TOP FARM OWNERS
by ZimOnline Investigations Team
*The list is not exhaustive as district land officers who have the knowledge of farm owners in any given district were in some cases unwilling to disclose such details for fear of possible reprisals.
NAME FARM SIZE AREA
R. MUGABE Gushungo Estates 4046ha Mazowe
Gushungo Dairies 1000ha Mazowe
Iron Mask Estate 1046ha Mazowe
Sigaru Farm 873ha Mazowe
Gwebi Wood 1200ha Mazowe
Gwina Farm 1445ha Banket
Leverdale Farm 1488ha Banket
Highfield Farm 445ha Norton
Cressydale Estate 676ha Norton
Tankatara Farm 575ha Norton
John O’Groat Farm 760ha Norton
Clifford Farm 1050ha Norton
Bassiville 1200ha Norton
S & M. MUJURU Alamein Farm 1300ha Beatrice
JOHN NKOMO Gijima Lodge xxx Hwange
SIMON KHAYA MOYO Marula Block 36 2034ha Bulilamangwe
CABINET MINISTERS
Joseph Made Tara Farm 840ha Odzi
Emmerson Mnangagwa Sherwood Farm 1600ha Kwekwe
Francis Nhema Nyamanda 1000ha Karoi
Stanislaus Mudenge Chikore Farm 760ha Masvingo
Kembo Mohadi Jopembe Block 3000ha Beitbridge
Benlynian Range 3200ha Beitbridge
Patrick Chinamasa Tsukumai 800ha Headlands
Nyamazura 1260ha Rusape
Hebert Murerwa Rise Holm 1100ha Arcturus
Ignatius Chombo Allan Grange 3000ha Banket
Oldham 400ha Chegutu
Shingwiri 1600ha Chegutu
Webster Shamu Lambourne Farm 1340ha Selous
Tobacco Estate 900ha Chegutu
Obert Mpofu Young Farm 2300ha Nyamandlovu
Umguza Block 39, 40, 41 6200ha Umguza
Auchenberg 1026ha Nyamandlovu
Sithembiso Nyoni Fountain Farm 3100ha Insiza
Walter Mzembi BW Farm 720ha Masvingo
Nicholas Goche Ceres Farm xxx Shamva
Savior Kasukuwere Conucorpia Farm 100ha Mazowe
Didymus Mutasa Harmony Farm 500ha Mazowe
Sydney Sekeramayi Maganga Farm 620ha Marondera
Edna Madzongwe Aitape Farm 2000ha Chegutu
Coburn Estates Plot 13A 560ha Chegutu
Bourne Farm 445ha Chegutu
Mpofu Farm 1200ha Chegutu
Stockdale Farm 750ha Chegutu
Reyden Farm 1340ha Chegutu
SECURITY SERVICES
Constantine Chiwenga Chakoma Estates 1276ha Goromonzi
Perence Shiri Bamboo Creek 1950ha Shamva
Eirin Farm 1460ha Marondera
Augustine Chihuri Woodlands Farm xxx Shamva
Paradzayi Zimondi Upton Farm 1029ha Goromonzi
Happyton Bonyongwe Thetford Farm
Henry Muchena Serui Drift 1500ha Chegutu
Abu Basutu Swallowfork Ranch 2711ha West Nicholson
Elson Moyo Daisy Farm 1600ha Chegutu
JUDGES
Godfrey Chidyausiku Estes Park 895ha Concession
Luke Malaba Marula Block 35 1866ha Bulilamangwe
Paddington Garwe Faun Farm 760ha Chegutu
Antonia Guvava Harndale Farm 1000ha Chegutu
Mafios Cheda Marula Block 37 3039ha Bulilamangwe
Ben Hlatshwayo Kent Estate 800ha Norton
Charles Hungwe Little England 6956ha Makonde
Chitakunye Alfias The Grange 1300ha Chegutu
PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS
David Karimanzira Arcadia Farm 1300ha Marondera
Cain Mathema Gwayi Ranch 4600ha Gwayi
Umguza Block 3700ha Umguza
Chris Mushohwe Kondozi Farm 400ha Odzi
Titus Maluleke Clipshap Farm 3000ha Masvingo
Thokozile Mathutu Dete Valley Farm 2800ha Dete
Anthonia Extension 6500ha Umguza
Angeline Masuku Wollendale Farm 3000ha Gwanda
Cephas Msipa Cheshire Farm 2100ha Gweru
ZANU-PF/GOVT HIGH RANKING OFFICIAL
Reward Marufu Leopards Vlei 1294ha Glendale
Kachere Farm 880ha Mazowe
Sabina Mugabe Mlembwe Farm 1037ha Makonde
Longwood Farm 924ha Makonde
Gowrie Farm 430ha Norton
Leo Mugabe Diandra 815ha Darwandale
Nangadza 1200ha Mhangura
Journey’s End 3000ha Makonde
Patrick Zhuwao Marivale Farm 244ha Mazowe
George Charamba Battlefields 02 1572ha Kwekwe
Nathan Shamuyarira Mt Carmel xxx Chegutu
Bright Matonga Lions Vlei 2000ha Chegutu
Amos Midzi Magudu Ranch 10701ha Chiredzi
Dick Mafios Insingizi Farm 1100ha Bindura
Melfort 554ha Mazowe
Joseph Chinotimba Watakai 1240ha Mazowe
Happison Muchechetere Burry Hill Estate 617ha Makonde
Tobaiwa Mudede Ballineety 3147ha Nyabira
Austin Zvoma Chinomwe Estates 1432ha Makonde
Mariyawanda Nzuwa Stella Burton 425ha Mazowe
David Parirenyatwa Rudolphia 802ha Murewa
Charles Utete Rudzimi 3350ha Lomagundi
Paddy Zhanda Chipfumbi Meadows 1364ha Goromonzi
Original date published: 30 November 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201011301078.html?viewall=1