After the Presidential election results of 2002, some white settler-farmers resorted to even more serious and dangerous violence and sabotage, writes Dr Felix Muchemwa in his book The Struggle for Land in Zimbabwe (1890-2010) that The Patriot is serialising.

IN perceived acts of sabotage, many European settler-farmers had started destroying crops still on the fields even before the Presidential election results were announced.
A James Badcock of Stockwell Farm in Mvurwi had destroyed ‘at least 72 tonnes of white maize ready for harvest at a time when the country was facing a shortage of maize’.
The destroyed maize was given to cattle as stockfeed.
According to the farmworkers, Badcock had earmarked 26 hectares of maize or 156 tonnes to grind into silage without notifying the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
“Former Commercial Farmers’ Union president, Tim Henwood, also destroyed more than five hectares of white maize for fodder purposes (even though) he had grown yellow maize for feeding his cattle.” (The Herald, April 29 2002, p.2)
In fact, since January 2002, the GMB had seized over 7 280 tonnes of white maize from European settler-farmers who were refusing to declare their white maize to the GMB. (The Herald, April 29 2002, p.2)
Further, around election result day, police impounded large quantities of farming equipment, which European settler-farmers had removed from the Government-listed farms into warehouses intending to illegally take it out of Zimbabwe. (The Herald, April 29 2002, p.1)
At least 57 tractors, 2 000 irrigation pipes, about 960 tonnes of irrigation equipment, a wide range of trucks, 600m-boom-sprayers, tobacco ridgers, combine harvesters, 431 tonnes of wheat, escalators, front-end loaders, trailers and other agricultural equipment were all found hidden at various warehouses.
Most of the equipment was from Mvurwi and Nyabira and the destination of most of the European settler-farmers was either Zambia or Mozambique. (The Herald, April 29 2002, pp.1-2)
After the Presidential election results of 2002, some white settler-farmers resorted to even more serious and dangerous violence and sabotage.
Irked by the Presidential election results, a Norton settler-farmer, Bazil Hulloville Brent, whose farm had been designated and who had been served with an eviction order, sprayed poison on more than 10 tonnes of newly-harvested white maize stockpiled in his granaries ‘because he was leaving the farm and could not bear the thought of anyone eating his harvest’.
He also destroyed a lot of farming equipment. (The Herald, May 20 2002, p.1)
In Matabeleland South, two more European settler-farmers were arrested for vandalising irrigation equipment on three farms designated for resettlement.
Endersby Drummond, who owned Lyndmill and Mahungwane Farms in Esigodini removed irrigation equipment from his two farms, while Rawstone vandalised engine rooms at his Mpopoti Section of Debstan Ranch, near Filabusi. (The Herald, June 13 2002, p.1)
Land Acquisition Amendment Bill
On May 8 2002, Parliament passed the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, which effectively gave the Government full rights on land listed for acquisition.
The Amendment superseded the General Laws Amendment Act which had been nullified by the Supreme Court in February 2002 because proper procedures had not been followed.
The voting in Parliament was 61 votes (ZANU PF) in favour of the Amendment, and 37 votes (MDC) against the Amendment. The new Act empowered the state to effectively use and to occupy the land compulsorily acquired for resettlement, including the right to survey, demarcate and allocate the land. (The Herald, May 9 2002, p.1)
By August 10 2002, after months of battling in the courts over land acquisition under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme, for the first time, 400 out of 1 600 white settler farmers, whose properties had been acquired by the Government under the new Land Acquisition Act passed on May 8 2002 had vacated their farms as per legal order issued by Government. (The Herald, August 10 2002, p.1)
The remaining 1 200 settler-farmers were expected to follow suit. Police reported a peaceful evacuation by the farmers. (The Herald, August 10 2002, p.1)
It must, however, be emphasised that most of the white settler-farmers who were issued with the eviction orders were multiple farm owners and that even so, some resisted and filed court appeals that challenged the constitutionality of the new Land Acquisition Act in the High Court.
The number eventually arrested for defying Government eviction orders was over 190 and,despite court appeals, none of them were allowed to go back to their farms except to pay their former workers’ terminal benefits. (The Herald, August 20 2002, p.1)
At least 179 white settler-farmers from Matabeleland North Province failed to meet the evacuation deadline, and had gone into hiding, leaving their wives and children on the designated farms. By August 21 2002, the number arrested for failing to vacate the farms after the 90-day period required by the law had risen to 207, with 15 of them from Mutare. (The Herald, August 21 2002 p.1)
End of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme
On December 9 2002, the Zimbabwe Government declared the end of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. (The Herald, December 10 2002, p.9)
A total of 2 000 out of 4 000 white settler-farmers in Zimbabwe had eventually lost their multiple farms to the new one-man-one-farm order.
While most relocated to their remaining single farms, greatly reduced in size as per legal requirement per agricultural region, some sought exit to neighbouring African countries like Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia and Angola.
Some even went as far afield as Nigeria and Uganda. (The Herald, August 12 2002, p.3)
Between April 2000 and December 2002, the Zimbabwe Government had acquired an estimated 11 000 000 hectares of land from the white settler-farmers and resettled an estimated 310 000 peasant families under the A1 model scheme and a further estimated 50 000 new African commercial farmers under the A2 model scheme. (The Herald, December 10 2002, p.9)
Post Land Reform and Resettlement Audit
The fluidity of the resettlement programme because of disputes between government and white settlers made an audit imperative, and the result was the Land Audit Committee of July 2003 Utete.
Utete Land Audit Committee
It was established later by the Utete Land Audit Committee of July 2003 that only 1 323 European settler-farmers had remained in Zimbabwe with 1 377 farms, all of them with a total of 1 175 607 hectares of land as of 31 July 2003. (Utete Report p.27)
The Utete Land Audit Committee of July 2003 established that as of 31 July 2003, a total of 6 422 farms amounting to
10 839108 hectares had been gazetted and acquired by the Government under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. (Utete Report p.24)
Of these, a total of 4 324 farms with a land coverage of 6 429 894 hectares of land had already been allocated to A1 and A2 farm beneficiaries, (Utete Report p.5) leaving a total of 2 098 farms covering 4 410 214 hectares to be allocated from July 2003.
Of the 4 324 farms covering 6 429 894 hectares already allocated by July 31 2003, a total of 2 652 farms totalling 4 231 080 hectares of land had been allocated to
127 192 peasant families under A1 model with a take up rate of 97 percent.
A total of 1 672 farms totalling 2 198 814 hectares of land had also been allocated to 2 260 potential African commercial farmers on the A2 model scheme with a national take up rate ranging from 42 percent in Manicaland to 100 percent in Matabeleland South but averaging 66 percent nationally. (Utete Report p.5)