Disillusionment, AgriAfrica. First Trip to Sesheke.

Sundown at Mwandi on the Upper Zambezi near Sesheke

Disillusionment: I am writing this word as it sums up my feelings, mainly because after all my scans, blood tests, stool tests, urine tests, and my latest scan, the echo-endoscopy, they (doctors and specialists) still have been unable to identify the cause of my stomach pains, which are now more often than not accompanied by nausea. This is partly in light of starting the FOD-MAP diet last Wednesday, and following a bad day on Wednesday, I had three days of slight nausea and mild pain until Sunday after lunch; the pain came back with a bang. The reason for the FOD-MAP diet is that, although 77 years old and never suffering, to my knowledge, IBS, I am dieting to address it. It is not a hard diet; I had already cut back on many things, such as fizzy drinks, bread, and sugar, although I did enjoy the occasional chocolate and biscuit, guiltily. Even ordinary crackers are out. Surprisingly, I can drink whisky and beer, although I have hardly touched them in months. Yes, I am disillusioned that it came back, but on calling my daughter, Storm, who suffers from IBS, she tells me to be patient, as it took nearly a month after starting the diet before continued relief. Here's hoping. Am I being deluded by this thought? My disillusionment is not with the doctors; I cannot blame them for their efforts to get to the cause, just with myself, or perhaps frustration would be a better description. I see my local doctor tomorrow and am going to ask him to remove some of the medication. Of the eighteen-odd medications I have had, I think only two have had some impact, be it small. It is now Friday, and I should report I have had the least pain for 6 months. Too early to say, but let's hope the tide has turned.

The Rhodesian teak forests at Sesheke

I have had much disillusionment recently, including the Scottish soccer team. I do not watch soccer, or football as it is known in Scotland, but because of all the hype over the World Cup, I thought they would at least get to the knockout stage. Not to be. At least the Scottish rugby team can play a decent game of rugby. I have also become totally disillusioned with Police Scotland, in my belief, that they were an independent force upholding the law of the country and all criminals as equal, along with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, which also acts as the chief legal advisers to the Scottish Government. That was until the case against Murrel, the husband of the First Minister, and the non-case against the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The latter being the woman who did not notice the campervan in her in-laws' drive, the Jaguar in her own drive, nor did she query where her £4,200 Starwalker pen, the £3,250 coffee machine, or the £ 2,600 Lalique pepper grinder came from. Talk about benefiting from stolen goods and getting away with it. Further, there must have been many SNP party leaders who were complicit or guilty of failing to do their jobs; after all, the crime spanned ten years. Murrel, I think, agreed to take the fall. Coerced, bribed or threatened? The police blame the Procurator Fiscal's office; the Procurator Fiscal stays quiet, and to my total disillusionment the Scottish electorate put them, that is the SNP, back into Holyrood. This is my disillusionment about things beyond my control, but what about Keir Starmer? He has just been forced to resign, saying, despite being unpopular, that Britain has improved in his two-year tenure, despite the public debt being driven by the welfare state, no defence force to speak of, and the social stresses brought about due to liberal immigration policies. He only got in because the electorate were disillusioned by the Tories, who had become as liberal as Labour under the last stream of Prime Ministers. It seems that in Britain, the prerequisite for holding this senior post is to have no backbone. I hope I am not disillusioned with South Africa this weekend when they take on England in rugby. That might just be too much disillusionment at one time.

To my surprise, I saw these cattle being swum across the crocodile-infested Zambezi River from the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. No veterinary movement permits for sure

Back to Zambia in 2003. Two of the people that came through our office doors were Bob Fernandes and Duncan Owen. Bob, an ex-Kenyan who had a reputation as the top (senior) land estate agent in Zimbabwe and was known to most ex-Zimbabweans and existing Zimbabweans, had, along with a couple of lawyers and a consortium of valuators, set up Valcon. Valcon has its detractors, and why, for whatever reason, they signed the Global Compensation Deed (GCD) and on whose behalf is unknown, this act annoyed me as it did many others. We will only know what harm this has caused in the future, but in many ways Valcon has also helped and recognised the value of our farms and properties, which has generally been accepted both internationally and by the Zimbabwean Government. Of course, not to everyone’s satisfaction, but that is normal. Some of us had valuations done before Valcon, but for many, it was the catalyst for having their valuations done and, more importantly, for obtaining records of the legal title deeds and owners at the time of confiscation. The below are my thoughts on the proposed new rules pertaining to title and company registration.

“I am not going to change my title deed or register my company under the new provisions. What happened in the early 2000’s, to whom, what and by whom is recorded at the time and that is what is important. Any legal battle or arbitration will be dealt with using the title and ownership at that time.” - Peter McSporran

Duncan and Bob were associates; Duncan, as a senior executive of Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), had retained Bob to value the agricultural properties, including those in Zambia, before sale, as the then board of CDC had decided farming was not lucrative enough. So, sitting in various offices, this group of gentlemen - Bob, Duncan, lawyers and a few farmers, including Vernon Nicolle, Graham Rae and myself agreed to set up AgriAfrica to help fight individual court cases for compensation claims in regard to the stolen land. For my farming partners and me, we had limited resources, so Graham and I were only able to take up 2.5% shares, while Vernon, I think, maybe doubled that. I stand to be corrected. At that time, Alan York and Wayne Parham were not part of it; they only invested later. Recently, AgriAfrica, especially through Alan York, promoted the GCD, which favoured the Government with no legal obligation to pay farmers if a default occurs; it lost a lot of credibility amongst displaced farmers. In addition, payment in Zimbabwean bonds, probably worth less than their printing cost, let alone their face value, was considered improper payment. 

“The GCD was created and marketed by the Government, and those who collaborated with the Government did it on the backs of the dispossessed ageing farmers’ desperation.” - Peter McSporran

In saying this, AgriAfrica did achieve a major legal breakthrough and, as such, set a precedent on the right to compensation and values in assisting the original Dutch farmers' landmark case in 2009 with the ruling of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In parallel, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal found that Zimbabwe violated regional treaties and human rights by practising racial discrimination in expropriating property without compensation. Both of these cases strengthen our fight for fair compensation. Ben Freeth was the instigator of the SADC Tribunal challenge against the Government, and, in fact, this was announced a year before the Dutch farmers'. Being Africa, the powers that be, in appeasement of the Zimbabwean Government, unconstitutionally disposed of the Tribunal.

James Chang and Jones Akapelwa selling me their teak projects

In mid 2003 I decided at the behest of its promoters Jones Akapelwa and James Chang, among others, to visit the Sesheke area of Zambia with a view in funding a start-up forestry enterprise to harvest and market Rhodesian teak. Sesheke is in the south-west corner of Zambia on the Zambezi, with Namibia across the river on the southern bank. To get there, we had to travel from Lusaka to Livingstone, the town on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls and then travel a further 190 kilometres to Sesheke following the course of the Zambezi upstream. The distance from Lusaka to Livingstone is 485 kilometres, but with the potholes on the road at the time, along with multiple diversions, it took us seven hours. What a relief to get to Livingstone and to see the Victoria Falls for the first time from the opposite side in Zimbabwe. After a night's rest, we set off on what I thought would be a two-to three-hour drive over the next 190 kilometres to Shesheke. How wrong could I be? There was no road as such, having not been maintained for many years, and most of the time we drove parallel to the road in the bush as it was better than the actual road. We had booked accommodation at the Mission guest house in Mwandi, surprisingly luxurious and where the local chief for the area lived. In Zambia, it is protocol to have an audience with the local chief if you are visiting or planning to do business in the area under the respective chief's administration. Jones had been brought up there, and his family were held in high respect locally, although that did not stop the chief from making us wait for several hours. Following this, we set off for Shesheke and to visit the forests. I immediately fell in love with the area, its beauty and unspoilt bush. I was to learn this was actually only a veneer, but in the meantime, I made the most of the trip, which I will tell you more about next week.

Disclaimer: Copyright Peter McSporran. The content in this blog represents my personal views and does not reflect corporate entities.