It's corruption. Not white farmers

Anybody who believes white farmers can rescue Zimbabwe's economy, has absolutely no clue what is wrong with Zimbabwe.

Recently Zimbabwe's government announced that it wants to give white farmers offer letters for land. These are not full title, or even long term leasehold and offer no legal protection from political interference. In fact the only security they offer is entirely based on political charitability because a minister can withdraw them at any time.

Apart from appealing to the usual racists who believe the blacks are lazy whites are hardworking nonsense, there is no news in the so called 'revelation' that Zimbabwe wants to bring back white farmers.

The problem with Zimbabwe is not agricultural output or other productive output. The problem is a culture of corruption, official impunity and grand scale entitlement that has taken root in the political elite.

No white farmer is going to grow crops in order to deliver them for free to government. No white farmer is going to stop ministers from taking whatever they want from government coffers because of their overblown sense of entitlement. Even if they grow crops, they can only do it for one or two seasons and then drown.

Right now, farmers who delivered maize to the GMB in 2013 have not been paid. Where were they expected to get the money for inputs for 2014 and now 2015. What bank is going to give you a loan knowing the chances of you not being paid for your crops are very high.

The agricultural market is heavily restricted with non-state entities being regularly elbowed out by government in favour of parastatals like the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco).

Most of the maize delivered to the GMB is allocated to milling companies owned by ministers for token (not market) prices and sometimes even just taken for free.

That it is the Zanu-PF government floating the idea shows, not only that they don't know how to solve the problem, but, significantly, that they are not prepared to change their ways. Those corrupt, we-are-entitled-to-whatever-we-want ways are the root cause of the problem, not the skin colour of the people producing crops.

Yes a white farmer can come back today. However what guarantee do they have that two years down the line a minister won't try to take their now productive farm? The compulsory land acquisition laws are still in place. Anybody who has been following Zimbabwe's issues will know that those laws have been used by high-ranking politicians to raid going concerns, milk them of cash, then dump the shells.

That seems to be what they have been trying to do with indigenisation laws as well, use them as a tool to raid going businesses for cash. Most of that cash is going to personal pockets and not government coffers anyway.

No one, not black farmers, not white farmers can operate in an environment where you have to rely on the personal charity of politicians, not law, to keep your investments safe.

Mind you the problem is not just affecting agriculture. Right now the government led by Supa Mandiwanzira has been trying to make a run for the assets of Zimbabwe's second largest mobile operator, Telecel.

He has also been trying to force the biggest operator, Econet, to share its infrastructure with parastatal NetOne. NetOne used to be the biggest mobile operator but, like nearly all other parastatals, has now been reduced to a shell because constant raids to its coffers for cash have deprived it of money to invest in infrastructure and growth.

If the mines had not been owned by very big conglomerates, most would have been taken over by now.

What we are faced with is a wolf called corruption, entitlement and greed wearing a sheepskin called black empowerment, indigenisation and all other esoteric feelgood themes. That it may be singing to Little Red Riding Hood called white farmer in grandma's voice, will never ever change the wolf genes in its body.

If white farmers are prepared to handover their maize to GMB for free, let them come back. I will personally go and stand in the line for free handouts when politicians are handing over their maize to villagers to buy votes.