The Death of a Farm

14th October 2001

Doma - A burnt building is all that remains of what once was a farm house. In the wheat field, cattle can be seen helping themselves to the winter crop which is due for harvest. Dozens of huts have sprouted up on the other side of the wheat field. The sound of axes is almost deafening as settlers cut down trees. Animals are being killed in numbers, including cattle. Welcome to Cotswold Farm in the Chitomborwiza area of Mashonaland West where the devastation that has taken place is similar to that of other farms taken over by the so-called settlers.

The situation is evidently tense as one goes through the security net of the Zanu PF youths which involves searching every visitor and demanding details of their business on the farm. Then the man in charge emerges. He identifies himself as Comrade Cephas Mugwagwa, chairman of the invaders. He offers to take The Standard crew on a tour of their new acquisition but we do not reveal our real identities, for security reasons. Mugwagwa is upbeat about the coming agricultural season but events on the ground resemble total chaos. "We have taken over the farm and we are now running it. The farmers left the equipment with us and we will be using it," says Mugwagwa. "We are expecting a bumper harvest and as you can see, the comrades are getting ready to plough the fields. We took over the farm because it was being underutilised," he boasts.

Prior to the invasion, Cotswold Farm was a viable farming entity specialising in mixed farming. The farm boasted of over 300 hectares of wheat under irrigation on the one side and on the other, dozens of head of cattle. But things have never been the same since the owner of the farm, Alan Yorke, fled the farm in the face of death threats by war veterans and Zanu PF supporters who have since seized the farm. Not only has the farm been reduced to a village, but it has also become a haven for thieves who are basking in the current wave of lawlessness which has gripped Zimbabwe since farm invasions began last year.

When The Standard arrived at a part of the farm now christened "Plot Number 14", goods looted from neighbouring farms could be seen on sale. Among these was a three-door fridge, serial number 84-89 which was going for $30 000, A Capri Deep Freezer serial number 12X 68D3613 selling at $35 000, a combination two-door fridge at $30 000, six rectangular table chairs at $10 000, two Superior four-plate stoves at $25 000 each, as well as a gas stove and a 95kg gas bottle. The farm compound is enveloped in gloom as the few remaining workers vacate their houses. The workers' future is uncertain and they have already gone for several months without wages.

Cotswold Farm previously employed 100 workers, the majority of whom were of Malawian origin. One farm worker, James Mutila, told The Standard that the invaders had given workers a month's notice to vacate the farms. "They told us that they had taken over the farm and asked us to join in the invasions and when we refused to co-operate, they asked us to leave the farm. But it is very unfair because we do not know any other home beside this on which we have worked on our entire lives," said Mutila.

The situation on Cotswold farm typifies the sorry state of affairs on Zimbabwe's once thriving commercial farms where dozens of commercial farmers have abandoned their properties to the so-called war veterans. Since the beginning of the farm invasions by Zanu PF supporters last year, scores of white commercial farmers have been harassed, their properties looted and farming operations brought to a halt.

One of the most affected areas is the Mashonaland West region, a farming area formerly known for its richness of crop production, animal husbandry and horticulture. The country is now facing severe food shortages - the direct result of the farm invasions. Already, government has given the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) a monopoly to trade in wheat and maize in an effort to avert the impending food shortages.