General Nyambuya's workers desert farm

General Nyambuya's workers desert farm

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By Our Correspondent
16/03/04
ABOUT 40 workers have fled from a farm owned by Manicaland governor and retired army general General Mike Nyambuya citing low salaries, poor working conditions, hunger and substandard accommodation.

The mass exodus of staff from the Nyamagura farm in Odzi follows a demonstration by the workers on Wednesday during which workers complained that they were repeatedly assaulted by the general’s bodyguards each time they complained.

The events in Odzi come barely a week after workers at a farm in Norton nearly beat up their employer, Masvingo governor Josiah Hungwe for underpayment of salaries and poor working conditions.

Speaking to our correspondent in Odzi Sunday, some of the 40 workers demonstrated said they had resolved to leave the farm after Nyambuya refused to up their salaries from the $38 000 he has been paying them.

The farm workers said they were buying maize from Nyambuya at $10 000 per bucket when the Grain Marketing Board is selling a 50kg of maize at $ 8 500. They complained that the houses at the farm were substandard and not suitable for human habitation. The houses have no roofs and water pipes, which were damaged during the scramble for occupation of the farm.

There is a shortage of books and furniture at the farm school and pupils are asked to work in the fields in exchange of books from Nyambuya, they said.

“Nyambuya is always guarded by about 10 soldiers who are usually asked to beat us when we complain about any ill treatment on the farm,” one of the ex-workers Leonard Pangani said. “When I enquired the issue of better wages Nyambuya asked his men to beat me up as a way of intimidating the whole community. Everything at this farm is definitely wrong, as there is no electricity, water, and roofs on the houses.”

On Friday last week, Nyambuya held a field day at Machiri plot where he addressed his audience to the fact that GMB has lowered the price of maize per bag to $8 500. He further indicated that wages for farm workers have been hiked from $38 000 although that is not the case on his farm.

Initially there were about 70 families at Nyagura farm, the majority of whom were taken from Clare farm, formerly owned by a Mr Bannard. The workforce at the farm has been severely depleted with the exodus of about 40 workers to neighbouring farms.

Skeleton staff had been put in place when a New Zimbabwe.com team visited the farm. Efforts to get a comment from Nyambuya failed as his office repeatedly said he was in meetings.

Tobacco at Nyambuya’s farm has ripened and is ready for reaping. However with the current developments the Governor is likely to face problems and probably a huge loss due to the poor grade his tobacco is likely to get.

The many black workers, the eviction of white commercial farmers should have heralded a new era of fairness and equality. But government officials have been accused of abusing the land resettlement programme by seizing vast expanses of land and exploiting workers to maximise their profits.
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