Maravi

(HERALD) War veterans to resist repossession of farm implements

War veterans to resist repossession of farm implements
Herald Reporter

WAR veterans have vowed to resist any attempt to repossess tractors and other farm implements distributed under Government’s Farm Mechanisation Programme.

This comes amid reports that some people want beneficiaries of the four phases of the Farm Mechanisation Programme to return the implements for redistribution by an as yet unnamed authority.

In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association vice chairman Cde Joseph Chinotimba said war veterans have been disturbed by suggestions that the equipment should be returned.

"These statements are quite disturbing and all our members would do whatever is necessary to keep the equipment we received from Government," he said.

In a statement on motor vehicle allocation to MPs and other issues relating to quasi-fiscal operations on Monday, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono, said there were suggestions in some quarters that all farming equipment, inputs and implements distributed by the central bank since 2007 should be returned for re-distribution by some competent authority elsewhere.

Cde Chinotimba however questioned who these people are and on whose authority they were calling for the return of the equipment.

"If it is the Finance Minister (Tendai Biti) calling for the return of the tractors then he is trying to work against the inclusive Government by trying to disturb the peace we are enjoying in the country," Cde Chinotimba said.

He said war veterans had accepted the current political dispensation despite what they went through during the liberation struggle. "This is an agenda to try to raise the ire of the war veterans so that when we raise our voices, then it is reported that we want to disrupt the operations of the inclusive Government," he said.

The war veterans’ leader said the former freedom fighters would never back down on the issues of land. He challenged Government to clear the air on the latest development, failing which the war veterans would be left with no choice but to besiege the Finance Ministry.

Labels: JOSEPH CHINOTIMBA, LAND REFORM, MDC, MECHANISATION, TENDAI BITI, WAR VETERANS

posted by MrK @ 4:52 PM