Banks in Zimbabwe must not enter into contracts with white commercial farmers without asking the government first, the official Sunday Mail reported.
National Security Minister Didymus Mutasa said some financial institutions were ”denying new [black] farmers loans … on the basis that the white commercial farmers had title deeds of the farms as collateral,” the paper reported.
New black farmers feel financial institutions ”despise” them, Mutasa said.
He said that from now on, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the state-run Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) and banks must check with the government before they enter into contracts with white farmers.
White farmers last week made an impassioned plea to government to stop land invasions, which first started more than five years ago with the launch of the land reform programme.
In a statement — later dismissed as ”hogwash” by Agriculture Minister Joseph Made — the Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) called for all stakeholders to work together to rebuild Zimbabwe’s struggling agricultural sector.
There are only around 300 white farmers left farming in Zimbabwe, down from more than 4 000 in 2005.
Mutasa said the lands ministry had noted ”with serious concern” that institutions including the central bank ”had entered into contract farming programmes with white commercial farmers” without checking with the ministry first.
”To avoid possible disputes … I am urging these organisations who may wish to contract white commercial farmers for agricultural production to first consult my ministry on the acquisition and resettlement status of these farms,” Mutasa was quoted as saying.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono says there should be ”zero tolerance” of new land invasions. – Sapa-DPA