Harare — THE real headache for the inclusive government is to reconcile its silence on the on-going reports of farm invasions, amid allegations of corruption in the allocation of land.

The Standard understands that while the government says farm seizures have been halted there were fresh reports of disturbances in Chiredzi, Chegutu, Norton and around Harare last week.

The invasions reported around Harare targeted plots, suggesting the motive is no longer land for farming purposes. Some of the reports involved both violence and acts that amount to cruelty to animals on the seized farms.

A delegation from the inclusive government investigating the reports is said to have been "horrified" by what it found.

The Standard understands that the delegation was "appalled" that law enforcement agents appeared powerless to intervene and put a stop to fresh farm seizures.

Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, when contacted for comment, said they needed to investigate the latest reports.

"If people have offer letters, they are entitled to move onto the land. If there's contestation, they have to go to the Ministry of Lands and the courts to challenge. Where it is manifestly clear that the offer letters are not genuine, we will have to investigate," he said.

"But when a person has been beaten up, they have a right to report to the police and we will investigate because that is clearly illegal."

The Standard understands that among those involved in the fresh land seizures are a senior official from the Reserve Bank and an assistant to a government minister.

In the case of Chiredzi, half of the farms affected by the latest reported invasions belong to foreign nationals which should be protected under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (Bippa).

Deon Theron, the new president of the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), said there was "a lot of corruption" involved in the allocation of land and in the prosecution and eviction of farmers. These irregularities, he said, could not be corrected while they continued to take place.

"Commercial agriculture finds itself in a crisis," he said. "The magnitude of the crisis is so big, that commercial agriculture is currently facing total collapse.

"The responsibility of rectifying this catastrophe lies squarely on government. Whether they actually have the will to do this remains to be seen."

The land reform programme, he said, could not be declared a success as it merely became an exercise of re-allocation of land from whites to blacks, irrespective of either side's ability to farm.

"Very often we find that the beneficiaries are closely aligned to influential individuals, or have paid someone," he said.

"Farm disruptions, prosecutions and evictions of productive white commercial farmers continue, and new beneficiaries continue to make their appearance sometimes more than a year after they have been 'allocated' a productive farm!"

Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara, toured some of the seized farms in Mashonaland West in the full glare of the media several months ago. While he publicly denounced what he witnessed, to date no action has been taken by the government to stamp its authority. And the report of his findings appears to have suffered the fate of several previous land audits - swept under the carpet.

The only logical explanation seems to be that Mutambara's tour was intended to create a façade of action by the inclusive government ahead of the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's tour of the US and Europe in June.

Theron said the failure of the beneficiaries to maintain or improve on the evicted farmer's production figures, had been exposed, and the impact of their failure had been catastrophic.

However, white commercial farmers could still play a major role in turning this decline around,Theron said, but only if government stopped discriminating against them because they happened to be white, treated them as any other Zimbabwean citizen, and allowed them to farm.

If property rights are not restored and respected, and full and fair compensation paid timeously for land, improvements, moveable property taken and losses incurred, the conflict will remain and there will be no way forward.

Restoring confidence in the agricultural sector is of paramount importance, Theron said.

Respecting property rights and calling an immediate moratorium on all land-related matters would be the first step to recovery.

The CFU proposes an end to new land seizures, issuing of new offer letters, a halt to all evictions, and an end to all farm disruptions, prosecutions and current land court cases.

Theron believes the above will only be possible if good, unbiased law and order has been re-established, as opposed to bad laws being applied selectively.

"The new constitution needs to ensure that the police remain loyal to the government and not a particular party or individual. When the land audit exposes the perpetrators of corruption, violence and theft, they should be held accountable and brought before the courts, either locally or internationally."

The CFU believes that no land audit can take place when farm evictions and new allocations are continuing.

An audit, the CFU is convinced, can not be done by an interested party, as this makes manipulation of the results possible. An audit, therefore, needs to be undertaken by an independent international body.

Key to a resolution of the land issue is that all signed treaties and their protocols be ratified, domesticated and enforced. Therefore the Sadc Tribunal ruling in the Campbell Case should be respected and enforced.

As part of restoring normalcy, the CFU wants perpetrators of corruption, violence and theft held accountable, and tried for their crimes.

CFU Vice-President, Charles Taffs said the key to national growth recovery and healing lay in successful agriculture.

"It is a base on which all sectors from banking, supporting industries and downstream manufacturers can grow, and most of all it is a sector on which good governance can depend," he said. "All we are asking is for good non-biased policy within which we can all participate with dignity and confidence.

"The alternatives to the above are all too dire to contemplate. Let this be a turning point for us all. To fail is to condemn our country and its children to poverty."