Chaotic land reforms ‘robbed Zim of its breadbasket status’ - report

HARARE - Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly admitted that the country’s land reform programme carried under former president Robert Mugabe’s government caused serious shortages in “farm productivity.” According to Daily News, speaking to white Zimbabweans over the weekend, Mnangagwa said that the controversial land seizures robbed the country of its breadbasket status. He said, however, that land grabs were “now a thing of the past.” Mnangagwa said that the remaining few white farmers were now secured, as the government had in recent months allowed them longer leases. He said whether the land reforms were “right or wrong” was now “history” as they achieved their aim of fixing colonial injustices on land. The president also assured the white farmers that the violent scenes that were witnessed at the height of the land reforms would not be repeated under his administration, the privately owned New Zimbabwe.com reported. Mnangagwa called on the few remaining white farmers to work with his government as the country headed towards crunch elections tomorrow. Thousands of white commercial farmers and their employees were displaced and left without sources of income during the fast-tracked agrarian reforms that were masterminded by Mugabe’s administration in 2000. Meanwhile, the United Nations says voter intimidation, threats of violence and coercion including people forced to attend political rallies are being increasingly reported ahead of tomorrow’s elections, especially in rural areas.