ZANU PF’s defeat by the nascent opposition in the referendum on the Constitution in 2000 redefined the art of conquest.
A semi-illiterate man with a rugged face and a clumsy beard rallied a group of ex-combatants from the war of liberation into occupying white-owned commercial farms.
The affable clown known as Joseph Chinotimba defied all odds to single-handedly venture into a territory Zanu PF had dithered on since independence.
As soon as Chinotimba’s foot soldiers started making headlines, people like Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi the Poland medically trained leader of ZNLWVA and others in Zanu PF rushed in to usurp Chinotimba’s initiative.
They encouraged rowdy elements to get into the mix of things. The hijacking of Chinotimba’s innocuous adventure by opportunists resulted in the birth of a major disaster with far-reaching consequences.
Hunzvi came in with swords blazing because he wanted a share of the limelight. Hunzvi’s achievement compass was stuck in the glory of the past where he had managed to armtwist President Robert Mugabe into a cowardly submission to the monetary demands for the war veterans.
His arrival on the farm invasion scene introduced an element of cruelty and murder. Surely the land redistribution could have been completed swiftly with no bloodletting.
Of course Zanu PF’s vocal chords had become increasingly hoarse because of the shouting of non-belligerent rhetoric on the inequitable distribution of land. Furthermore, the lack of financial commitment from the British government under the Labour party left Zanu PF with their backs to the wall.
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The party became clueless and frustrated after failing to secure reasonable offers of money to buy the land from some of the whites through the willing-seller and willing-buyer basis.
The instigations of the tough-talking and hard-hitting Zanu PF spurred the gullible and naïve Chinotimba into taking to the hobby of invading farms. Chinotimba had not planned to cause an outcry ,but had acted in sympathy with the grandstanding and posturing of politicians.
The Chinotimba-led land seizures initially started as disorganised disruptions of farming activities. The boisterous men and the raucous women were allowed to carry out mock land seizures in front of television cameras just to agitate the situation.
The invaders sang revolutionary songs and danced the reprehensible or obscene kongonya dance before they moved over to another farm.
It was only when the costs of hopping from one farm to the next became prohibitive that the invaders adopted settling on the farms.
The unplanned settlement in the “liberated” farms triggered a stampede for prime farm land. Bigwigs claimed ownership of the vast farmsteads and other movable assets while the small fish got raw deals. As the invading parties became intoxicated with the thoughts of owning mansions in the middle of isolated farms, the invasions became more violent resulting in some people losing their lives.
The affair was militarised into an operation dubbed “the agrarian revolution”. The land was proclaimed as the economy and the economy, the land. The people were reminded that the colonial masters had seen the value of land and had apportioned the most productive areas amongst themselves.
After the agrarian revolution had been fought and won those who had done the dirty work were astounded by benefits accruing to the rich and the powerful.
The political heavyweights allocated themselves the most sought-after farms; they took the palatial residences; they grabbed all the farming equipment and they inherited the underpaid farm workers at reduced rates of pay. Above all they remained in a drunken stupor after they were overwhelmed by the emotions of owning the means of production without owing the banks.
It is true that in a war the privates fight and the generals take the credit.
The land seizures saw ordinary men and women staging farm invasions only for the politically powerful to claim the trophies. The ordinary invaders were given plots in hostile locations while the influential took ownership of the developed and productive parts of the farms.
The less influential majority could only look and marvel at the prospects of becoming subsistence farmers on plots requiring a lot of technical input.
Despite problems and disparities ushered by land reform, a lot of people have cause to celebrate loudly. They feel that the land is the economy and the economy is the land. They have 99 year lease certificates as proof of ownership of the land, the economy.
Yet this situation breeds some discontentment. Land is a finite resource that does not grow in sympathy with the population. What war will our landless great grand-offspring fight in years to come?
The current state of land ownership is an ingredient of a future class war pitying land owners against disenfranchised landless. The land people are born on is supposed to be their heritage.
Masola waDabudabu is a social commentator
