MDC outlines land policy!

ex http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/viewinfo.cfm?id=2616

BY GIFT PHIRI

HARARE - Zimbabwe's main wing of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says should it win power, it would not revoke the 99-year leases granted to new farmers last week by President Robert Mugabe, but would establish an Independent Land Commission whose first task would be to audit the situation.
Contrary to expectations that the Zimbabwe government's land resettlement exercise would benefit landless peasants, Mugabe last week gave 99-year-leases for prime farms grabbed from whites to only 125 top army, government and Zanu (PF) officials, as well the chief correspondent at state monopoly radio and television, which has sycophantically driven Mugabe's propaganda offensive, under the murky commercial settlement scheme. Among Mugabe's cronies allocated the 99-year leases were Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings chief correspondent Reuben Barwe, war veterans Joseph Chinotimba, the leader and self-styled commander of farm invasions, Elliot Manyika, Minister Without Portfolio, Webster Bepura, a top Mugabe loyalist, Menard Muzariri, a senior Central Intelligence Organisation operative and Dick Mafiosi, a Mugabe loyalist, among others.
"We cannot reverse what has been done, but we cannot endorse what has been done," anti-senate MDC faction president Morgan Tsvangirai said.
He said the ruling party's method of grabbing the land was wrong, even though it was backed by sound ideals.
"Zanu (PF) has embarked on this disastrous land grabbing exercise. We, as the MDC, think the method was wrong, the objectives might be right … what we want as MDC is a process to rationalise the reform programme so that it becomes equitable, transparent and deals with this historical grievance," Tsvangirai said.
He said once his party came to power it would conduct land audits to find out who owned which farms and how many.
This stems from allegations that many of the Zanu (PF) and government officials are multiple farm owners.
"(The audit) is going to reveal who has got what, and clearly set up a mechanism of a land commission to deal with redistribution, land reform itself, assistance to farmers and the progressive support that should be given for food service sufficiency," he said.
Responding to Tsvangirai's comments, Zanu (PF) spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira admitted that "there might have been problems with land allocation".
"But we are dealing with it, we are investigating the problem as government," Shamuyarira said.
He was referring to a probe into the land issue conducted by government, but whose report has been kept under wraps.
"We cannot go back to the pre-2000 situation in which Mr Joe Bloke who has now run away, is in Australia, we say come and get back your land. We cannot go back to that," said Tsvangirai.
Mugabe announced that a total of 140,698 families had been resetlled on A1 plots on 2,740 grabbed farms. A further 14,856 farmers are on 2,280 farms under A2, but out of all these, only 125 handpicked farmers were given leases.
This has drawn accusations that Mugabe was rewarding his loyalists in a programme which he claims is meant to benefit the poor.