News to warm the hearts of my socialist friends who wax nostalgic for the good ol’days of the nationalization of the potash industry and the Saskatchewan Land Bank…. (an idea that would have worked if they’d only gone the whole measure…).
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) – In its latest crackdown on democratic freedoms, the government announced today that all farmland will be nationalized and private land ownership abolished.
All land, including more than 5,000 former white-owned farms handed over to blacks, will become state-owned and subject to state-issued leases, Land Reform Minister John Nkomo said.
Title deeds of farm properties will be scrapped and replaced by 99-year leases with rent payable to government the state Herald newspaper reported. “There shall be no such thing as private land,” Nkomo said.
Since the farm seizures began in 2000, about 200,000 black families have been allocated former white-owned land. About a quarter were given larger properties for commercial rather than small scale farming. Hundreds of black farmers also bought commercial farms on the property market that will now be nationalized.
hat tip – Bob Tarantino, for the Shotgun
Does that include the nice big farms handed over to his buddies, inclduing his wife who now owns five? Hmm?
Where is the outrage from the media? If this was Israel taking Palestinian land etc…or China in Tibet handing over Tibetan farms to incomers…
From the Independent:
The latest victim of the renewed violence is a British grandmother, Pat Campbell, 62, who was beaten by a “security guard” wielding a stick and an AK47 rifle last week when she attempted to feed her cattle on her farm, 90 miles north of Harare. The farm has been allocated by the government to Lieutenant General Phillip Sibanda, commander of the Zimbabwe National Army and a former UN peacekeeper. …..
Don’t forget about security. Secureroot.org