Government must reclaim all unproductive farms

Revelations that the farm, which the late musician Dick “Cde Chinx” Chingaira got at the height of the government’s fast-track land reform programme has been reduced into a wasteland make for sad, but instructive, reading.

But this is perhaps just a tip of the iceberg, as the probability is high that most of the farms that were forcibly taken from productive white commercial farmers are lying idle is high — nearly 20 years after the exercise, which has reduced Zimbabwe — the former jewel and bread basket of Africa — into no more than a basket case.

There have been several land audits carried out by the government to establish whether or not the farms were being used productively and have those that were being abused reclaimed and given to people, who would use them effectively for national benefit.

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