Makoni Blasts Land Reform Programme

Former ZANU-PF politburo member and Finance minister Dr Simba Makoni dismissed the government’s agriculture mechanization programme phase three as a mere political gimmick aimed at luring supporters ahead of the elections.
Addressing a fairly attended star rally in Masvingo at Mucheke stadium last Saturday, Dr Makoni told the gathering that the people of Zimbabwe should be empowered so that they could be able to buy their own equipment instead of relying on government handouts.
Dr Makoni attacked the government accusing the government of favouritism when dealing with resources that should be distributed on the basis of merit and competence.
“After all the equipment is only given to ZANU PF sympathizers. If you are not ZANU PF no matter how good you are in farming, you won’t access the equipment. Even the food has become ZANU PF ‘campaign material’ as you have to produce membership cards to get it”,said Dr Makoni.
“I realized that I could no longer walk in darkness and on February 5, I preferred to follow the light,” said Dr Simba Makoni referring to the day he announced his plan to stand as an independent presidential candidate.
Apart from being uneconomic and illogical, Dr Makoni said that mechanization programme had cultivated great enmity among the general populace across the whole country.
“If the whole village is supposed to share one scotch cart, what would happen if they all want to use it at the same time? Isn’t that seeding hatred among the people? All that should be done is to create an environment where people access what they want on the market. It becomes unfair if there are no ploughs, scotch carts, fertilizers and all agricultural equipments on the market yet a few people are getting all that from a government” he said.
Dr Makoni lamented the fact that equipment was only made available at the end of the season instead of the beginning of the season where it could have helped boost production.
“What ZANU PF is doing is to reward their friends and relatives. The presidential scholarships now target their children. If you are not a ZANU PF supporter, no matter how intelligent you are, you will never get the scholarship,” he said.
Dr Makoni promised to carry out a land audit that would take land from multiple owners, resuscitate the health sector that has collapsed and to get the country’s economy on recovery path among other issues.