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Zim official in 'farm theft'
21/12/2004 13:48 - (SA)
Harare - A senior Zimbabwe government official has been arrested for allegedly stealing agricultural equipment from a formerly white-owned farm seized under the controversial land reform programme, a state daily said on Monday.
Secretary for the ministry of lands, Simon Pazvakavambwa, is accused of stealing close to 600 irrigation pipes, several pumps and building materials worth millions of dollars from a farm that the government had earmarked for compulsory acquisition, according to The Herald.
The equipment was found at his 200-hectare farm 70km east of the capital and at another owned by his cousin, it said.
It could not be immediately established when the alleged theft took place and police were not immediately available for comment.
Last December President Robert Mugabe's government ruled it would "compulsorily acquire" any farming equipment and material left behind by white farmers.
Before the new law came into effect, the government had accused white farmers who lost their land of trying to export, lock up or destroy their equipment.
Under the regulations, it is an offence for a farmer to damage or get rid of any equipment without the authorisation from the lands minister.
More than four years ago, the government embarked on a controversial reform programme to acquire millions of hectares of land from whites and redistribute it to blacks.
About 4 500 white farmers owned a third of the country's land including 70% of prime farmland before the government launched the programme in February 2000.
According to farming officials, about 600 white farmers now remain in Zimbabwe and own just three percent of the country's land.
A combination of factors, including poor planning, lack of resources, HIV/AIDS and drought have led to a huge slump in Zimbabwe's agricultural production in recent years.
- AFP
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