Government To Downsize Under-utilized Farms

Government is working on downsizing underutilised farms to benefit youths, President Robert Mugabe revealed.

Speaking during a Presidential Youth Interface rally at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera on Friday last week, Mugabe said youths will soon own pieces of land, which they must utilise to ensure food security in the country.

President Mugabe castigated senior government officials and other commercial farmers whom he said were underutilising farms.

“We are now working of downsizing farms which are not being fully utilised, to give others who don’t have land but want to embark on farming. So those with bigger farms will have them downsized,” he said.

He bemoaned multiple farm ownership, land under-utilisation and protection of white farmers in Mashonaland East province.

“There are about 73 white farmers remaining in this province and most were protected by (former Minister of State for Mashonaland East], Ray Kaukonde. We are looking into this issue and our aim is to give our youths small pieces of land,” he said

Mugabe criticised Zanu PF Political Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere for haphazardly distributing urban land for residential stands to Zanu PF youths, saying the process was highly flawed as it could be easily abused by land barons and corrupt officials.

“In urban areas we have no enough space to give you for residential stands. We want to start a programme to build apartments which can accommodate a lot of people. I heard your leader saying you were given land by Kasukuwere in the Manyame area. I am not satisfied with that because if we continue like that we will go nowhere,” Mugabe said.

The President said it would be sensible to build structured apartments so that youths could reasonably benefit, rather than giving them land which could easily be taken away.

Turning to the on-going succession fights within the ruling party, he said those seeking to succeed him should wait for the party’s elective congress in 2019.

“This issue of factions where some leaders are conducting meetings at night while others are approaching witchdoctors, this is where I am saying Chipanga and your team, it’s you who are being approached for support,” Mugabe said.

“It’s you the youths who will be promised a lot of things in exchange for the support. We don’t want that. It’s bad for the party. It destroys the party. To the senior officials we say to you stop it, stop it, stop it. I am

borrowing the phrase from Amai (Grace) Mugabe. It destroys us” said Mugabe.