Gloria Olds's farm acquired

2001-04-23 07:42

Shonhiwa Muzengu, Media24 Africa Service

Harare - Barely two months after gunmen drilled over 15 bullets into the body of 72-year-old Nyamandlovu farmer Gloria Olds, the government has issued a notice of intent to compulsorily acquire her Silverstream Farm.

The Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Joseph Made has issued a preliminary notice to compulsorily acquire the farm. The farm is listed among 142 farms the government is earmarking for resettlement, among which is a farm owned by the Bulawayo municipality and another by the late former deputy minister of Mines and Energy, Jini Enock Gwauala Ntuta.

The Bulawayo City Council's Roslyn Farm and Ntuta's Springfield Farm are set to go under the hammer for the government's accelerated land reform programme soon, if opposition to the acquisition is not passed by the Administrative Court.

President Robert Mugabe announced on Independence Day on Wednesday that 2801 farms were gazetted for compulsory acquisition under the government's fast track resettlement programme, adding: "We have now resolved to address the pivotal land issue once and for all."

While the acquisition of the other farms can pass without ado, it is the listing of Olds' farm which has got the people talking. Some farmers who spoke to The Daily News said they found it "shocking" that the government should rush into acquiring Olds's farm with much pace than bringing her killers to book.

"It is a curious move that just weeks after Olds's murder, her farm should be a major pick for the government's resettlement programme," said a farmer who requested not to be named.

Six men are in remand prison facing charges of killing Olds on March 4 this year, among whom is Howard Ncube, who is also one of the accused in the abduction of missing Movement for Democratic Change poll agent, Patrick Nabanyama, last June.

A member of the Olds family said they were challenging the acquisition of the farm.

At Independence Day exactly a year after Gloria's son, Martin was shot by suspected war veterans on his Compensation Farm, hordes of ex-combatants marched onto the property and began parcelling out land among themselves.

Tens of farmers have sought High Court Orders to stop the government from taking over their farms but Made was quoted this week as saying that the government would allocate people land on every gazetted farm regardless of court orders.

"We have resolved to go ahead and allocate people land on all gazetted properties, and we will attend to legal issues later," said Made.

He said the government was "determined to satisfy the demand for land and will continue to identify farms for resettlement", signalling an intensification of the government's fast track resettlement programme which its critics warn, could reduce Zimbabwe's agricultural output and further constrict Zimbabwe's economy to a comatose state.

- News24