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- Aug 2, 2010
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By MIKE MANDE
Posted Saturday, July 7 2012 at 14:32
The farming tycoon Bruce Rastetter, who is investing $100 million in leasing over 800,000 acres of land in Rukwa region, southwestern Tanzania, is being accused of human rights abuses by a US lobby.
In a new report to be published this Monday, July 9, Rastetter is accused of evicting more than 160,000 residents of Katumba and Mishamo in the Southern Highland of the country.
The report, Lives on Hold, by the Oakland Institute, is being released in co-ordination with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI). CCI members say they have filed an official conflict of interest complaint against Rastetter with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.
They are lobbying for the investor to be removed as Iowa Board of Regents president pro tem.
Ross Grooters, CCI member from Pleasant Hill, Iowa told The EastAfrican that the new investigation report shows that Iowa regent Bruce Rastetter is responsible for ongoing human rights abuses in Tanzania and is another black eye to the international reputation of the state of Iowa.
Mr Grooters said the tycoon must resign from the Board of Regents or be removed from public office immediately.
According to the report, the residents will be moved from the area without public debate or consent and are now facing an uncertain future as they remain in the dark over compensation and relocation plans.
"Caught in the crossfire of this egregious land deal are more than 160,000 newly naturalised Tanzanians - former Burundian refugees who fled civil war more than 40 years ago," said Mr Grooters.
Rastetter is leasing the land through the Iowa-based AgriSol Energy LLC, of which he is a co-founder.
The AgriSol land deal is part of Kilimo Kwanza or Agriculture First, a government scheme to promote agricultural development through public-private partnerships.
In the report, the Oakland Institute exposes the involvement of Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to provide legitimacy to a land grab in Tanzania.
Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, says the project in Tanzania was initially masquerading as responsible agricultural investment. The university withdrew any support or association with the project in February 2012 under growing public pressure.
Ms Mittal, who is a co-author of the report, says that while AgriSol claims to have halted operations in Katumba and Mishamo until the refugees have been relocated, Lives on Hold depicts how the relocation is to be accomplished.
The Oakland Institute is an independent policy think tank with a focus on social, economic, and environmental issues.