A case of a “mad” man gone “madder”

By Clever Tandi

The recent utterances by the Zanu PF dictator Robert Mugabe about taking back the land given to chiefs at a conference in Masvingo is a case of a “mad” man gone “madder”.

After expropriating land and property belonging to the white commercial farmers, Mugabe threatens to do the same to his own people, how ironic.

There seems to be no closure on this land issue. Zanu PF is now revealing its true intentions of trying to micromanage the people through veiled threats concerning the land.

The manner of the land reform was shambolic, that is a universally accepted fact. However Mugabe and Zanu PF having mythically so called given people their land back, truthfully want to retain control. It is a facade to say the ordinary person given land owns the means of production.

If it were true people, in this case chiefs would be able to exercise autonomy in the best arrangement that maximises the utility of their pieces of land be it through contracting former white commercial farmers, an arrangement I do not see a problem with.

There are many ways to optimise a fixed asset, leasing is one of them. The Chiefs clearly lack the technical expertise to match the former commercial farmers and vice versa the white farmers lack the land to apply their resources and know how.

These leases sound like a win-win situation not just to the two parties but also to the country at large, benefits I will not overstate. Mugabe’s comments are clearly racist and counterproductive in a country that is already polarised but it is to be expected from an octogenarian who lost the plot a long time ago.

Clever Tandi – Is MDC supporter and human rights campaigner based in Cardiff, UK. Currently studying for an Msc in Finance at Cardiff Met University.