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(TALKZIMBABWE) Govt has no regrets on land reform: Mutasa

Govt has no regrets on land reform: Mutasa
By: George Maponga
Posted: Friday, September 17, 2010 1:50 am

GOVERNMENT does not regret embarking on the land reform programme to address historical land ownership imbalances in Zimbabwe, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa has said.

Minister Mutasa, who is Zanu-PF’s secretary for administration, said Zimbabwe was addressing scores of farmers at a South Eastern Growers Association prize-giving ceremony in Bonge Village, Zaka on Wednesday. He said it was imperative that Zimbabweans fully used the land as that was the only way to reverse decades of colonial oppression. The minister stressed that Government’s land reforms had transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of marginalised people.

“This land that we took from whites to give to our people is ours and we do not have any regrets about that as Government.

“The land belongs to us and it is the only birthright that we have which can be used to economically empower our people. The fruits of ownership of our land are beginning to manifest and we should continue to work hard to consolidate the gains of our land reform programme,” he said.

Minister Mutasa said Zimbabweans should not be distracted by Western propaganda.

“There are many people who shed their precious blood for us to get this land and we should fully use it. Let’s not pay attention to what some bully Western nations say because we never sought to resettle our people in America or Britain.

“We are resettling our people in Zimbabwe, which is the only home that we have,” Minister Mutasa said.

He said Zanu-PF would not stand and watch while reactionary forces colluded with erstwhile colonisers to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle.

Zanu-PF secretary for production and labour, Dzikamai Mavhaire, challenged Zimbabweans to develop a culture of working for themselves.

Minister Mutasa handed over Cottco-sponsored prizes to Zaka farmers who excelled in production of maize, cotton, rapoko, sesame and other crops.

The prizes included wheelbarrows, hoes, ploughs, electric generators and a grinding mill.

Earlier, Minister Mutasa toured Zaka Primary School where he planted two avocado trees before addressing schoolchildren and promised to source computers for them.

Labels: COTTCO, DIDYMUS MUTASA, LAND REFORM, SOUTH EASTERN GROWERS ASSOCIATION (ZIMBABWE)

posted by MrK @ 6:38 AM