Zimbabwe: Land is For Blacks Only
That's the headline at CNN today: "Zimbabwe: Land Is For Blacks Only."
It seems that the white European colonial settlers in the late 1800's who took undeveloped land in what was then called Rhodesia; and invested their sweat, blood, experience and wealth to turn agriculture into the largest sector of the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean economy; are now officially persona non grata as government policy.
The result of this forcible land transfer has been to reduce agricultural output to the point that the country is on the verge of massive food shortages. Export income from agricultural products is also declining meaning that the government has even fewer financial resources to meet the needs of its once-prospering people.
I suppose that, if the theory is to give back the land to the original black inhabitants of the land, it would follow logically that the land should be returned to them in the condition it was in before the white colonialists improved it.
Although that is obviously not the intent of the Mugabe land policy, it appears that, like Uganda and other countries that turned their backs on their colonial developers, Zimbabwe is essentially "killing the goose that laid the golden eggs."
I am reminded of the old anti-colonialist dictum:
It seems that the white European colonial settlers in the late 1800's who took undeveloped land in what was then called Rhodesia; and invested their sweat, blood, experience and wealth to turn agriculture into the largest sector of the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean economy; are now officially persona non grata as government policy.
"The land here is for the black people and we are not going to give it back to anybody. We are not inviting any white farmers back," Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, also in charge of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, told the state-owned Sunday Mail.Only 700-800 of what were once nearly 3000 white farmers remain on their land. Based on the policy stated by Mutasa it would appear that their tenure is also running out.
The result of this forcible land transfer has been to reduce agricultural output to the point that the country is on the verge of massive food shortages. Export income from agricultural products is also declining meaning that the government has even fewer financial resources to meet the needs of its once-prospering people.
I suppose that, if the theory is to give back the land to the original black inhabitants of the land, it would follow logically that the land should be returned to them in the condition it was in before the white colonialists improved it.
Although that is obviously not the intent of the Mugabe land policy, it appears that, like Uganda and other countries that turned their backs on their colonial developers, Zimbabwe is essentially "killing the goose that laid the golden eggs."
I am reminded of the old anti-colonialist dictum:
When the white men came they had Bibles and we had the land. Now the white men have the land and we have the Bibles!I suppose that does reflect some measure of injustice. But, when the economy collapses and the people begin to starve as a result of supposedly "righting a wrong," I would suggest that perhaps the people were better off with the "injustice."
posted by Bird of Paradise at 7:48 PM
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