ertes
09.08.02, 20:48
Zimbabwe Says Will Punish White Farmers Who Stay
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - The Zimbabwean government
warned white farmers Friday they would be punished by law if
they defied orders to vacate land targeted for black
resettlement.
The government has ordered 2,900 of the country's 4,500
white farmers to hand their farms over to landless blacks in a
program to reverse the overwhelming white land domination
created under colonial rule. Those who refuse face jail.
Hundreds of farmers withdrew to urban areas before a
government deadline Thursday, but farm officials said it was
impossible to tell how many had left for good and how many were
just biding their time in the relative safety of towns.
Critics say President Robert Mugabe's forcible program of
land distribution is exacerbating serious food shortages.
But Vice President Joseph Msika, who chairs the cabinet
committee on land acquisition, told Zimbabwe state television
those who refused to obey the orders would live to regret it.
"Those who are not going to work within the laws of
Zimbabwe have nobody to blame but themselves. The law will take
its own course. It's simple and straightforward," he said.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) reported Friday
that more than 400 farmers had already left their properties
and a further 1,200 were expected to follow suit.
It did not give the source of its information, but the ZBC
also quoted Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo as saying
Mugabe's government was determined to press on with seizures.
committee.
"The commercial farmers are a racist bunch, which want
privileges for themselves only," he was reported as saying.
to redistribute land, and that the land reform is irreversible
irreversible."
Mugabe, who returned from a trip abroad Thursday, is
expected to discuss the government's stance on
the farms in a
major address early next week.
CALM BEFORE THE STORM?
There have been no reports of action by
authorities,
violence or evictions since the midnight deadline
expired.
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) President Colin
Cloete told
Reuters Friday the CFU remained in talks with the
government on
the issue but that it was advising its members to
avoid
confrontation. He said the situation appeared
calm.
Vernon Nicolle, a farmer who has decided to stay
put in the
belief that the government orders can be
overturned, agreed.
"It is very quiet here today," he told Reuters
from his farm.
But Nicolle said he was confident the situation
was
starting to turn in favor of the farmers, who
have avoided open
confrontation with the government and the bands
of pro-Mugabe
liberation war veterans who have occupied
hundreds of farms.
"The legal fraternity is starting to find gaps in
the
government's armory. They (the government) have
not adhered to
the rule of law, everything has been done through
intimidation."
The disruption to farming in Zimbabwe, once
southern
Africa's breadbasket, has put thousands of black farm workers
out of work and comes as millions in the region face famine.
reforms are sharply criticized by the private media.
policies beyond the exercise of power," the weekly Independent
newspaper said in a commentary.
"Their land crusade is a self-interested power play and has
predictably led to destitution and famine across whole swathes
of the country. ... The economy is spiraling down as people
starve," it said in a biting attack on the land reform policy.
Mugabe is expected to clarify the government's position on
the farms in a speech marking Heroes Day, which mainly
commemorates those who fought in the 1970s independence war
against white rule in the former Rhodesia.
Last year's commemoration was marked by looting of farms
around the northern town of Chinhoyi by pro-government
militants and some farmers fear a repeat.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a newspaper
notice Friday this year's Heroes Day would be celebrated Monday
as the day, a public holiday, had fallen on a Sunday.
