Zimbabwe - Land reform bearing fruits

[rebelAfrika]

Land reform bearing fruits

President Mugabe should be applauded for economically empowering black Zimbabweans, the real owners of the country by giving them back their land which had been stolen from their forefathers by the unrepentant Rhodesians and their kith and kin. We say economic empowerment because we all know that the countrys economy is the land. And if it had not been for President Mugabe and his teams foresight and effort the country would not be talking about economic independence. Now we can talk of total independence.

The last three years have seen the newly resettled farmers doing wonders on their pieces of land, contrary to what was being said by prophets of doom. Some are growing for the export market, something which was a preserve of a few. Whereas in the past they used to send their children to day schools, now the new farmers are sending them to boarding schools. They now own radios, televisions and they have electrified their homes. In short, their living standards have improved greatly.

This year the country is going to have a bumper harvest as it expects 2,3 million tonnes of maize. Thus, the country will not need to import maize, neither will it ask for any donations. The government should be commended for making sure that the new farmers and those in our communal areas got inputs. In the past, only white commercial farmers got inputs and agricultural support from commercial backs. Now the playing field has been made even and the farmers are showing our detractors what they are capable of doing. The peoples commitment to increased production for the betterment of their lives and the support from government has made this years bumper harvest possible.

More importantly, the land reform programme has given dignity to the Blackman. The blackman now has a sense of belonging. Thousands of people have been resettled in a short space of time a thing the countrys detractors said was not possible. And all this was done without problems, famine and disease outbreaks. There was only last years drought, a natural disaster, to talk about.

One is now proud to be black, to be Zimbabwean and African. If you go to Europe or anywhere in the World you can proudly tell them that you are Zimbabwean. This has also been evidenced by the support given to our President whenever he visits foreign lands. You have all heard of the standing ovation for Cde Mugabe at Walter Sisulus funeral in Soweto Stadium, at Fort Hare, in Malawi, at the SADC Summit in Tanzania, at South Africas Tenth Independence Celebrations and at the Earth Summit held in South Africa where he was hailed for his speech. While our detractors see otherwise, every black person in the world would like to be associated with Cde Mugabe because they see in him, a true African, principled leader and representing their aspirations.

The sanctions and other moves taken by our detractors have failed to stop the land reform programme. This historical achievement has however not gone down well with some of our neighbours who are controlled by the imperialists. This is the reason why they are harassing and slashing our people. Some of these countries are still under bondage as they do not own their means of production. Even their civil service is not run by themselves. When they see the emancipation and total independence of the Zimbabwean people there is bound to be jealous, hence the ill-treatment.

To keep the momentum going, decision making and delivery system should be perfected because if they are not, the two will slow down progress. Inputs have to be at the right place at the right time. The land bank has also done a lot for the people but more still need to be done for it to move side by side with government programmes.

Talking of imperialism, what happened to Iraq or what is happening right now is imperialism at its highest level. Its a physical manifestation of the economic policies of Britain and the USA. Thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed simply because the two purported world giants would like to have direct control of Iraqi oil. We have seen the IMF and the World Bank dictating economic dosages to Third World countries, dosages which are very brutal. Ethiopia refused the dosages in the past but Kenya was so unlucky. Kenya accepted the dosages and its banking system collapsed and the government has accepted that it is bankruptcy.

In Zimbabwe we are lucky to have an able and dynamic team led by President Robert Mugabe which strongly believes in home grown solutions for the countrys economic problems. We have the land reform programme around which the economy set to revolve, grow and survive. What we now need is to continue fine tuning our home grown solutions and be cautious in our dealings with the IMF and the World Bank.