The vice-president of the Commercial Farmers Union Trevor Gifford told United States embassy officials that commercial farmers were going to remain political footballs in the power struggle between President Robert Mugabe’s potential successors.
He said the mostly white commercial farmers were caught in between Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s “economic team”, who were pushing for production, and hardliners under Minister of Security and Lands Didymus Mutasa, who wanted all whites off the land.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mujuru’s principal rival in the ongoing struggle to succeed Mugabe, and his allies were biding their time quietly, apparently hoping to use the chaos to their political advantage against both Mujuru and Mutasa.
National Constitutional Assembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku had also said Mnangagwa was biding his time and would allow Mujuru to take over from Mugabe but only for a while before he unseated her.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 06HARARE770, NO STABILITY IN SIGHT FOR ZIMBABWE’S LAND REFORM
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
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VZCZCXRO3321
PP RUEHMR
DE RUEHSB #0770/01 1791526
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281526Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0263
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1255
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1100
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1259
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0520
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0885
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1313
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 3684
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1082
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1721
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC//DHO-7//
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1470
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK//DOOC/ECMO/CC/DAO/DOB/DOI//
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ23-CH/ECJ5M//
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000770
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
AFR/SA FOR E. LOKEN
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL
TREASURY FOR J. RALYEA AND B. CUSHMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2011
TAGS: EAGR PGOV ASEC EINV PHUM PREL ECON ZI
SUBJECT: NO STABILITY IN SIGHT FOR ZIMBABWE’S LAND REFORM
REF: HARARE 766
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4 b/d
——-
Summary
——-
¶1. (C) Commercial Farm Union Vice President Trevor Gifford
on June 27 updated poloff on the GOZ’s latest 99-year lease
form, which would vest in the GOZ unfettered authority to
repossess any properties distributed in its ongoing chaotic
land reform process. Gifford said the form offered
insufficient security of tenure to attract investment or
financing. He described a new wave of evictions underway and
cast remaining commercial farmers as political footballs
between Vice President Mujuru’s “economic team”, who were
pushing production, and hardliners under Minister of Security
and Lands Mutasa, who wanted all whites off the land. He
noted GOZ plans to legislatively implement its control of
most of the sector and a CFU colleague elaborated on the
worthlessness of GOZ compensation offers to displaced
commercial farmers. Meanwhile, land use among ZANU-PF farm
claimants continues to be disrupted by squabbles over unclear
or conflicting rights to possession. End Summary.
——————————-
Unmarketable 99-Year Lease Form
——————————-
¶2. (C) Gifford shared a CFU critique of the GOZ’s latest
lease form (transmitted to AF/S), the purported centerpiece
of the GOZ’s effort to revive agricultural productivity.
Central among the host of deficiencies highlighted in the
document was the GOZ’s authority to take back the land for
“any breach” of the lease or if the GOZ deems the “the
leasehold is not being properly managed.” Proper management
was undefined and the lease provided no constraints on the
GOZ’s ability to terminate leases at any time.
¶3. (C) Gifford said the lease form remained in dispute
within the GOZ, which found it impossible to resolve its
conflicting objectives of draconian control and lease
marketability. In any event, in its current form it was
insufficient either as a basis for secure tenure to attract
investors or as a basis for collateral to enable badly needed
agricultural finance. Nonetheless, hundreds of commercial
farmers had been desperate enough to apply for land from the
GOZ under lease arrangements; none had yet received access to
land.
——————————————— ———
New Waves of Evictions in Spite of Mujuru Intervention
——————————————— ———
¶4. (C) Gifford said that a new wave of evictions got
underway in April, completely contradicting GOZ publicity
about interest in securing the environment for commercial
farmers. Fourteen farmers were physically evicted and 20
more threatened with eviction – mostly in Midlands and
Mashonaland West. More than half of the evicted farmers were
restored possession and the twenty successfully resisted
eviction with the help of what he informally dubbed the GOZ’s
“economic team”: Vice President Mujuru, Central Bank Governor
Gono, Minister for Economic Development Gumbo and Mashonaland
East Governor Kaokonde.
HARARE 00000770 002 OF 003
¶5. (C) Gifford reported that a more recent wave of evictions
commenced about two weeks ago. About ten more farmers had
been served with eviction notices signed by Mutasa and more
were expected. The notices afforded 90 days to vacate with
two-year jail terms for those who failed to comply. Gifford
noted that several of the targeted farmers had signed MOUs
with the Ministry of Agriculture just two months ago for
production of winter cereals. The uncertainty had led many
farmers to limit their planting of winter cereals.
¶6. (C) Gifford said the mixed messages reflected a power
struggle underway between Mujuru and her supporters and
hardliners aligned with Mutasa. Mujuru’s group saw
commercial farmers as a key to reviving the productivity
necessary to the ruling party’s political future. Gifford
said he “had absolutely no doubt” that Mujuru had been
advocating hard on their behalf. Indeed, she had engineered
a directive ordering a freeze on all disruptions or
dispossessions of commercial farmers — a directive
flagrantly ignored by Mutasa, his allies, and in some
instances opportunistic locals exploiting the lack of clear
authority. To Mutasa and the hardliners, the commercial
farmers were ostensible “security threats” and their farms
plums to be plucked in a patronage exercise. Mutasa had made
clear publicly and privately that he wanted all whites off
the farms, according to Gifford.
¶7. (C) As for Mugabe, Gifford continued, by refusing to
weigh in decisively on either side, he assured that
commercial farmers would remain political footballs in this
power struggle and that the agriculture sector would remain
paralyzed by uncertainty and disruption. Gifford said
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mujuru,s principal rival in the ongoing
struggle to succeed Mugabe, and his allies were biding their
time quietly, apparently hoping to use the chaos to their
political advantage against both Mujuru and Mutasa.
——————————————— —-
Legislation to Enable GOZ Control of Most Ag Land
——————————————— —-
¶8. (C) Gifford confirmed that GOZ was preparing to introduce
legislation to implement Amendment 17 to the Constitution,
which last year established government ownership of most
agricultural land in the country. Gifford asserted that the
version he had seen would exclude from government ownership
the lands of selected ruling elites who were not on lists
referenced in the legislation. He said the bill was
controversial within ZANU-PF, and suggested it might play out
like the NGO and education bills, which initially were not
signed into law after being passed by the parliament.
—————————–
Worthless Compensation Offers
—————————–
¶9. (C) Elaborating on reported compensation deals underway,
CFU Executive Director Hendrik Olivier told poloff on June 26
that the GOZ was offering dispossessed commercial farmers
pennies on the dollar for past improvements made on seized
properties. Typical offers were for between 5 and 10 percent
of the assessment values. The payouts would be made over
time in a manner that, under current quadruple digit
inflation conditions, would render them worthless. For those
farmers who demanded payment immediately, the GOZ was
assessing a 40 percent penalty, further eroding the
compensation. Although such conditions were very
HARARE 00000770 003 OF 003
unattractive, he noted that some destitute farmers had taken
the opportunity to settle, which had the unfortunate impact
of weakening the union’s front against government.
————————————
Intra-ZANU-PF Land Wrangles Continue
————————————
¶10. (SBU) Meanwhile, the independent and state-aligned media
continue to chronicle legal battles and conflict between
ZANU-PF loyalists over property seized under land reform.
Among those headlined for property disputes during the past
few weeks are Party Chairman and Speaker of the Parliament
John Nkomo, Party Director of Administration Shava, and
Minister of Agriculture Made. Embassy staff travel around
the country confirms that most former commercial farms lie
largely fallow and sector analysts estimate that land
utilization among ruling party elites who received some of
the best properties in land reform remains well below 50
percent.
——-
Comment
——-
¶11. (C) The continuing disarray in GOZ land reform shows no
prospect of abating in the foreseeable future. Real security
of tenure is the key to restoring the sector’s productivity
but remains anathema to much of the party leadership because
it would eliminate a central pillar of the patronage system.
Moreover, the dependence of all agricultural actors on the
government creates invaluable opportunities for corruption
among the elites, even as it stymies investment and
production in the overall economy. Even the seemingly more
constructive approach of Mujuru’s “economic team”
unhelpfully revolves around personal power relationships
rather than systemic reforms, and Mutasa’s alleged racially
inspired agenda strikes us as rather closer to the truth than
the conciliatory posture he tried to adopt recently for the
diplomatic corps (reftel). In this environment, any GOZ
exercise of its right to terminate — assuming a lease form
is ever approved — will play out in the context of
corruption and internecine power struggles unrelated to
purported productivity priorities. Like most purported
revolutions, Mugabe’s “Third Chimurenga” is heading towards a
stage of eating its own in endless internal battles for
power, position and profit.
DELL
(36 VIEWS)
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