Mugabe's spin doctor in hot water over state farm

Mugabe's spin doctor in hot water over state farm

MOYO: In hot water

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe's spin doctor Jonathan Moyo is in trouble over a state farm he bought against government policy.

Official sources said authorities in charge of the land reform programme were investigating how Moyo - who has been named in a government report as having four farms - bought farms allocated to him by the state. It is illegal to buy state-owned land in Zimbabwe.

According to Agriculture Ministry documents shown to the Sunday Times, Moyo bought Paterson Farm for a mere Z6-million (R5 000) in 2002 despite the farm being owned by the state. The documents also indicate that Moyo was also offered another large farm, Hwange.

Then Agriculture Minister Joseph Made, who offered Moyo the farm in a letter, refused to comment on the issue. Moyo has denied ownership of all but Paterson Farm.

Meanwhile, tension is rising between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over proposed electoral reforms ahead of next year's general election.

Zanu-PF has been trying to steamroll the MDC and civic groups into accepting its electoral proposals so that the party can be seen to be embracing reform before the March election.

The MDC says the "piecemeal" reforms were designed to camouflage vote-rigging and buy political legitimacy. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said his party had rejected Zanu-PF's arbitrary proposals. He said Zanu-PF should stop repression and violence if it was serious about electoral and political reform.

But political repression is increasing.

Last week MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's house was ransacked by police who claimed to be looking for arms. This week four trade unionists were arrested for addressing a meeting without police clearance. Laws to control NGOs, telephones and the Internet are looming.
Sunday Times
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