ZAPU and Matebeleland people have joined hands in their fight to stop the take over of Maleme farm in Matebeleland South by president Mugabe’s lieutenant Mr. Mashingaidze.
Mashingaidze has recently sought to forcefully occupy Maleme farm assisted by his party ZANU PF and party thugs. The occupation of the farm has raised eyebrows as the takeover is disrupting farming activities that have benefited thousands of local people in the area. But now the government is seeking to accommodate an individual at the expense of the benefit that the local population as enjoyed in the farm.
The new land occupation has raised many questions as benefactors have been individuals from distant regions while locals are displaced and left landless by government. Locals and opposition parties have accused ZANU PF government of parceling out land on patronage basis with military and other security personnel being the benefactors of the land grab.
Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) led by Dumiso Dabengwa has voiced concerns over the current move to occupy Maleme farm , saying: ‘As a revolutionary that is pro-people the party notes with disgust the recent invasion of Maleme Farm in Matabeleland’s Matobo district, which is owned by Mr. Cunningham by one Mr. Mashingaidze.
The farm which houses Shalom Campsite and Ebenezer Training Center has been a hive of entrepreneurial activities with many jobless youths and women directly benefiting through employment and agriculture training.
The whole province has also been benefiting from its extensive poultry farming project while the Christian community at large has come to regard Maleme farm as its home due to its cheap and conducive boarding facilities.
The move by Mr. Mashingaidze and his ZANU PF party not only goes to show how anti-people they are but also shows how the ZANU PF government has turned injustice into law.
What is more shocking to ZAPU is that this latest invasion of the particular Farm by one of the ZANU PF cronies, confirms our fears that at a time Zimbabweans are swimming in poverty, the clueless government is setting its eyes on looting from the ordinary Zimbabwean.
At a time when most youths are roaming in the streets due to high unemployment, Maleme Farm as one of the few productive farms left in the country, has been safeguarding livelihoods by offering employment and agricultural training to the people of Matebeland, highly hit by de-industrialization.
We are disheartened that this move seems to have the evil blessings of the Zanu Presidency through utterances made by the Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa, that farm invasions of the few remaining white owned farms will continue unabated.
It is also reported that Mr. Cunningham was subsequently ordered not to move any properties from the farm as this would constitute theft.
This is clearly a fraudulent act of the highest order and as ZAPU we utterly condemn this heinous crime against Mr. Cunningham and the ordinary people of Matobo.’