Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday said white farmers who were given land under the reform programme will not be asked to leave. It is only those who are resisting to abide with the law that will be affected.
Responding to questions in Parliament that farm invasions and the statement by President Robert Mugabe that white farmers must go were creating discord as to what the government policy was, Chinamasa his own findings were that there were some farmers who were not respecting the fact that their farms had been acquired by the government and were therefore refusing to move off.
“When the rightful people, those who have been given offer letters are gaining access, it is projected or propagated as if it is a farm invasion. So those are also the issues that we have been going into. Each so called farm invasion that has been reported, I have gone into it and almost the facts establish that it is not farm invasion.
“So, this is an appeal that I make to those white farmers whose farms were taken, they must comply with the law. The rule of law requires that they comply with the law; they must not continue resisting enforcement of the law. That is my appeal to them and if that happens, I can assure you all those negative perceptions and sentiments will die away,” he said.
“The whole land reform programme was to do with trying to address a historical imbalance and that has to be achieved without fail, without any excuse from anybody. When we say those whites must go, it is those who are resisting basically to abide by our laws, which laws do they want to abide by?
“We are the Government and have the law they must abide. The hon. member will be aware that there are white farmers who have offer letters. We are not saying those should go and in fact, we are doing everything to protect them. Those who resist compliance with our laws, what message are they basically sending?”
Q & A:
MR. MADZIMURE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Hon. Minister, what are you doing to make sure that the perception which relates to the issue of the country’s risk is reduced considering that we are continuously reading in the newspapers of fresh farm invasions, a lot of discord as far as that is concerned. Is it not a factor that will affect our re-engagement process?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (MR. CHINAMASA): Madam Speaker, since my appointment, I have been trying to address issues to do with our environment, especially to make our environment more conducive for foreign direct investment. Some of the factors that I have had to grapple with, are not just coming from what the hon. member has stated. It is also coming from this House. We send very negative messages and signals outside the country and this I hope, will stop so that we can project ourselves more positively to outsiders.
With respect to the so called “farm invasions” I have actually gone into this matter and what I find is that there are certain of our citizens who have not respected that their farms were gazetted and have been acquired by Government. They have been resisting to move off. So when the rightful people, those who have been given offer letters are gaining access, it is projected or propagated as if it is a farm invasion. So those are also the issues that we have been going into. Each so called farm invasion that has been reported, I have gone into it and almost the facts establish that it is not farm invasion. So, this is an appeal that I make to those white farmers whose farms were taken, they must comply with the law. The rule of law requires that they comply with the law; they must not continue resisting enforcement of the law. That is my appeal to them and if that happens, I can assure you all those negative perceptions and sentiments will die away.
MR. D. P. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Hon. Minister, as you have rightly indicated that maybe we have to project a positive perception to those that are outside – we are on record that just a few days ago His Excellency, the President said that all remaining white farmers should move out of the land. When we ….
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. member, could you please put across the question, no statements please. We just need the supplementary question.
MR. D. P. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker, when we are sending out those kinds of pronouncements, which are then projected as policy pronouncements, how does that help in our effort to try and re-engage the international community?
MR. CHINAMASA: I thought Madam Speaker, I have set out clearly what the Government position is. We have a law; everybody must abide by the law. Anyone who resists the law cannot hide behind eviction and basically being chased away. The whole land reform programme was to do with trying to address a historical imbalance and that has to be achieved without fail, without any excuse from anybody. When we say those whites must go, it is those who are resisting basically to abide by our laws, which laws do they want to abide by? We are the Government and have the law they must abide. The hon. member will be aware that there are white farmers who have offer letters. We are not saying those should go and in fact, we are doing everything to protect them. Those who resist compliance with our laws, what message are they basically sending?
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