The
CFU Information Room will be open over the Easter weekend. Office hours
will be as per normal, and we will be using CFU rotational staff, so
please be patient with your queries.
- - - - -
A memorial service for the late Dave Stevens will be held at the
Andy Millar Hall, Exhibition Park, Harare, on Tuesday 25th April 2000 at
1:00 p.m. Farmers and friends please take this as an
intimation.
- - - - -
The CFU
Emergency Council Meeting is still in progress at the time of writing.
Please liaise with your Regional or Commodity Chairman on the
deliberations of the meeting.
- - - - -
Note from Coghlan, Welsh and Guest: On reflection of the
appropriate regulations concerning the disposal of land, whether by sale
or otherwise, in which it is necessary to obtain a Certificate of No
Present Interest would be applicable legislation to the issues on
duress. In this regard, our previous advice that these regulations would
only apply with regard to sales is therefore not complete.
In the result the situation of each farmer will be greatly
assisted by this all-embracing regulation. It is still important
for farmers nevertheless to see their lawyers as previously
advised.
- - - - -
Meeting with the
President of Zimbabwe State House Office, 1pm Monday, 17th April,
2000.
In Attendance: President R G Mugabe
Acting Minister Joyce Mujuru, Lands and Agriculture Deputy Minister
Olivia Muchena, Lands & Agriculture President CFU, Tim Henwood
President ZTA, Richard Tate Director CFU, David Hasluck
Father Fidelis Mukonori
President Mugabe welcomed those present
and said that Father Fidelis had organised the meeting, but he had
intended to have the meeting anyway He wished to discuss the
nature of the escalation of conflict and clashes between war veterans
and farmers and, "to look at the way ahead". Both parties have
ideas and he wished, "to share some adumbrated thoughts" on the current
situation in Zimbabwe.
President of ZTA, Richard Tate,
presented a brief on the situation regarding tobacco. He stated
that last year he had taken a banker overseas to meet tobacco
customers, but this year, on the advice of the Speaker of the House, had
taken Dr. Chris Kuruneri, MP, to help reassure customers on the
situation in Zimbabwe and the ability to meet overseas tobacco market
requirements for :
* Taste * Variety *
Continuity of supply
of a larger crop of 220 million kg.
In the company of Dr Kuruneri they had visited Japan, London (5
manufacturers) and Europe (8 manufacturers) all of whom had shown strong
interest and support for Zimbabwe. This was because the U.S.
production had declined and, together with an inefficient
selling system, based on 140 small auction floors, manufacturers were
now looking to Zimbabwe and Brazil to supply their requirements.
Government-to-Government contact with China was helping to develop
this important market. Japan, for the first time, had given 3 year
orders for tobacco.
The current situation with
farm invasions was causing manufactures and the ZTA concerns over the
ability to deliver tobacco to the auction floors due to open at the
beginning of May. Mr Tate explained that many tobacco farmers were
unable to open their grading sheds. 60 farms were unable
to operate at all in the Macheke\Virginia area due to farmers moving
off over the week-end for safety reasons. There is a necessity to
plan ahead, not only to have a full offering of tobacco when the
floors open, but for the land preparation and planting of
seedbeds. A return to normality was necessary to give
farmers the confidence to go about their business. Meetings had been
held with Government and Acting President Msika on the exchange rate,
and the necessity to adjust the "stuck dollar" Downwards against
the U.S. to encourage farmers to offer their tobacco at the auction
floors early. The 6 000 small tobacco growers were as aware of
these issues as commercial growers, and needed an appropriate exchange
rate too.
Mr Henwood said farmers' confidence needed to be
returned by knowing the way forward on the land issue. There was
common ground to move forward from the position agreed at the Donors
Conference in September 1999. The current security situation on
600 invaded farms was disrupting current farming operations,
including the preparation for the 2001 tobacco crop, as described by Mr
Tate. Now was the time to harvest soyabeans, which had already
been delayed due to the wet weather, the maize crop must be taken in and
a wheat and barley crop must be planted. Mr Henwood said that
farmers needed the assurance of His Excellency that they could get on
and farm now and in the future in a peaceful and secure situation.
The violence over the week-end in the Virginia farming area,
that resulted in one farmer, Dave Stevens, being shot and five farmers,
who tried to ensure his safety, being severely beaten by war
veterans, who abducted them from the Police Station at Murewa,
illustrated the lawless situation, and that farmers had every reason to
fear for their lives. Law and order needed to be restored
urgently.
President Mugabe expressed his sorrow and regret over
the incident of Dave Stevens death but he did not have the full details
and reasons for the loss of Stevens.
Mr Henwood
gave a detailed brief of the circumstances surrounding Stevens death
from Friday evening 13th April, when war veterans intimidated and beat
workers at Stevens Arizona farm, and the workers retaliation against the
war veterans the following morning, Stevens subsequent abduction by war
veterans on Saturday afternoon, to his being shot in the presence of Mr
Osborne late that night.
Mr Tate stated that Mr Stevens tobacco
crop had been lost when the war veterans burnt the grading shed.
The 60 farmers from Virginia\Macheke who had left their farms, following
Stevens death, needed assurance that they could return to their farms in
safety, and prepare the crops for auction, and plan for the new
season.
President Mugabe gave his assurance that this would be
done.
As President Mugabe had expressed disappointment over
lack of farmer support for the constitutional amendment, that
compensation for land would only be paid to farmers if the funds were
provided by Britain. Mr Henwood explained the CFU
position.
Mr Henwood said he believed it was inappropriate for
the CFU to have taken a position relating to the sovereignty between the
Zimbabwean and British governments, and that as Zimbabweans, farmers
looked to their Government for the necessary solution. In any
event, as the British Government had consistently stated
that they would not pay compensation for land per se, farmers conclusion
as to the meaning of the amendment was that they would not receive
compensation for the land and, therefore, it could not be
supported.
President Mugabe explained that the constitutional
amendment had been a pressure tactic to get the British to standby
agreements reached in 1996 by his Ministers Nkomo and Kangai that had
been concluded with the Conservative Government of John Major.
Mr Henwood reiterated he believed that the agreement reached at
the Donor Conference was a basis for dealing with the British on the
land issue and it would be appropriate to revisit and update this
position.
A detailed discussion then ensued on the land reform
programme and the way forward including -
* Relations
with the British Government * The need for a Zimbabwean solution
* The visit of Ministers Nkomo, Shamuyarira and Mudenge on the
ice-breaking mission to the United Kingdom * The need for frequent
consultations * The separation of the land question from poverty
alleviation * The possibility of a further meeting with President Mugabe
following his discussion with the two war veteran factions.
President Mugabe concluded the meeting by saying, "we should never
lose hope. The farmers must play their part in Zimbabwe, and we
are sorry for those who have been affected by the current situation, as
we know many are good neighbours."
- - - - -
REGIONAL REPORT
We have had reports of
about four new invasions around the country, and a work stoppage on a
farm in in Mashonaland East.
CFU has been informed
of incidents on three properties in the Enterprise area this
afternoon. At the time of writing full details are unknown. We
will advise you as and when we have more information.
ACCOMMODATION
Mrs Hunt, Mr Pleasant Tel:
308305 - - - Dr and Mrs Vivien, Avondale Tel:
744616 - - - Sharon, Chisipite 496998 / 091347384
- - - Richard and Jane Calder, Chisipite. Tel:
499119 e.mail: calder@africaonline.co.zw - - - Jim Skinner Tel:
844522/3 (bus) / 339114 (res) / 091 326696 - - - The Director of
Goldprint has offered accommodation for approximately 300
families. Contacts: David Knolls Tel: 011
212551 david@goldnet.co.zw Michael Vidler Tel: 011
203375 mike@goldnet.co.zw Lorraine Tel: 011
206261 castedo@goldnet.co.zw - - - Special from Cresta
Jameson:
Single $1400 (bed and breakfast) Double
$1800 (bed and breakfast) Children 2-12 years (bed only) - - -
Jade and Keith Battye Tel: 745369 / 091 200145 - -
- Lorraine Castedo Tel: 747142 / 011 206261 - -
- David Mills Tel: 011 212551 - - - The Managing
Director of Ericom is offering large premises in Graniteside for parking
vehicles, as well as strong rooms for storing any
valuables. Contact Judy Taylor at Ericom, Harare - - -
Tessa Grigor Fully furnished self-catering garden, not suitable for
young children as unprotected swimming pool. Tel: 882032 /
885765-6 (bus) / 884974 (res) / 091349617
FRIGHTENED families arrived at
dusk for an emergency summit in the town's Sports Club,
their pick-up trucks packed with all their belongings.
Children looked bewildered as parents, some crying,
filed into the gymnasium to be told to flee their
farms.
Officials were talking about Code
Orange. Everyone knew what it meant.
Husbands kissed wives and ruffled their children's
hair. Nobody among the hundred-odd people sitting
around the club's badminton court disagreed with the
order to go but they were mute with anger.
Tim Savory, 50, a local farmers' leader, said:
"It's heartbreaking but none of us wants to be the next
to die." The strain was clear as he told the hushed
gathering: "Your life, your children's lives, are the
most important thing, not your farms, and this country
can't guarantee your life."
He urged them
not to panic, but fathers with children under their
arms were already drifting off to seek shelter for the
night with family or anyone else they knew in Kwekwe. By
last night, the bustling town, on the main road to
Bulawayo, and at the centre of a farming area the size
of Sussex, was close to bursting as people who had fled
their farms made beds in any spare corner they could
find. All were too proud to mention money but
representatives of the Commercial Farmers' Union moved
around, whispering offers of help. Nobody knew how long
they could be away from their homes.
These are practical
people, used to crisis, who within an hour had thrashed
out their evacuation plan.
Mr Savory had
invited the local black police chief to the meeting "to
show we are not provoking showdown", and when one of
his neighbours tried to hector the embarrassed officer
about the impotence of his force against the so-called
veterans, Mr Savory put his finger to his lips and said: "Zip it,
all of you. We are not here for a fight but to plan our
immediate future." The officer then shuffled away, as
volunteers arranged where people would stay. Satisfied
that they had shelter, many took up regular pursuits.
The tranquillity around the club was disarming.
Determined the evacuation should not be seen as
surrender, some just played bowls or went to the
library, joking that they would need something to read
during exile.
On the club's verandah,
shaded by coffee trees and overlooking a cricket pitch,
two young mothers held their babies. Karen Potgieter,
22, carressed her daughter Kerry and said: "Our lives
are being destroyed and we can't understand why." She
then hugged Shannon Goby, 26, who held her son,
Joshua.
The two women debated what they
should pack. "We should take our valuables because we
can sell them," Karen said. "I wonder if anyone wants
my wedding dress?" However, she added: "We don't know
what to take because we don't know how long we will be
away." Her husband, David, was packing their daughter's
buggy into his truck.
In the bar, farmers
scribbled names of people needing escorts from their
farms and planned their escape like a military
exercise.
Radio sets crackled with
confirmations of the latest atrocity. The word rape
ricocheted around. Mr Savorysaid he knew the two girls
who had been attacked. "Now you see why we are moving
the women and kids. This is not some propaganda stunt,"
he said. "These girls were related to one of the
farmers' leaders in Harare. We know there is a hitlist
and some of us in this room are on it, including me."
Please tell your workers you are not deserting
them
and are coming back
As he
tried to arrange his own family's departure from their
farm 18½ miles away, he was pestered for advice and
reassurance. Shouting to be heard, he pleaded to the crowd:
"Please tell your workers you are not deserting them and
are coming back."
Annette Meyer, who runs a 30,000-acre cattle farm, said:
"Work has to be done. I feel distraught leaving my
workers. They are my family. I never thought the day
could come when I would leave my farm. Now we all have
to think about leaving Zimbabwe."
Talk at the bar had now turned to who was entitled to a
British passport. People compared family trees, arguing
whether a grandmother who came from Harrogate was
enough for the British to give them a passport and
escape from the growing anarchy.
Karen Pritchard, 40, had a British passport, but her
husband and two sons, Justin, 14, and 11-year-old Dirk,
did not. "Can they come with me?" she implored. No one
was sure and the telephone line to the High Commission
in Harare was permanently engaged.
There would be no pressure on those who decided to stay
but Mr Savory urged them to tell the club where they
would be in case they needed saving.
Exhausted, he said: "This is a place where we
usually have parish meetings. I never thought we would
see a council of war." He then took a mobile-telephone
call from the union's leader, who had met President
Mugabe. He did not need to relay the grim tidings. His
expression said it all.
As friends and
neighbours disappeared into the night to find temporary
shelter his parting words were ominous. "I'm
pessimistic. Life for us all may never be the same again".
Thursday, 20 April, 2000, 17:30 GMT 18:30 UK- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_720000/720887.stm
Violence flares in
Zimbabwe
Black farm workers were beaten, their houses torched
Fresh violence has erupted on white-owned
farms in Zimbabwe, despite promises from
squatters' leaders of a temporary halt to
hostilities.
Black farm workers were beaten and their
houses torched on Thursday in the Arcturus
area east of the capital, Harare, by a group of
more than 150 government supporters.
The assailants - armed with sticks, whips and
rocks - rampaged through the farm settlement,
kicking down doors, smashing windows and
burning down about 30 houses as dismayed
workers looked on.
The white farm owner
had already abandoned
his property after
receiving threats,
neighbours said. Many
other white farming
families have done
likewise, fearing for
their lives.
The leader of the attackers said the farm was
a headquarters for the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC).
"Our people have been suffering because of
these people," he said.
The news of the latest violence comes as
President Robert Mugabe prepares to host a
regional summit on Friday which will discuss
the growing threat of instability in Zimbabwe.
Peace pledge
He and his opposite numbers from South
Africa, Namibia and Mozambique will also hold a
separate meeting to discuss the continuing
war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Friday's planned summit
follows talks between
Mr Mugabe and leaders
of the white farmers
and the war veterans
who have been
occupying their
property.
On Wednesday, the
organiser of the farm
invasions, war
veterans' leader
Chenjerai Hunzvi, said
there would be no further attacks pending
negotiations towards resolving the crisis over
land ownership.
On Thursday he repeated his call for a
"cessation of hostilities" in a meeting with
farmers in the Marondera area - where a white
farmer and a foreman were killed at the
weekend.
"Your security on the farms is given and it is
given not only by me, but by the president. All
other things should stop. There have been
aggressions from the war veterans and
aggressions from the farmers. There should be
a cessation of hostilities," he said.
Killings
Over the past two months, government
supporters have illegally occupied more than
1,000 white-owned farms.
Two white farmers,
two black members of
the opposition MDC and
a black policeman have
been killed, and two
rapes have been
reported.
A wake was held in
Harare on Thursday for
the two MDC workers
who died in a
petrol-bomb attack on
Saturday
On Wednesday, Mr
Mugabe said the
veterans - who have
led the occupations - would not withdraw until
the farmers made clear what land they
intended to hand over.
And in an interview with the BBC, he said he
did not want international help, such as from
the United Nations, to ease the land crisis.
Representatives of the war veterans and the
white farmers union will meet on 28 April,
according to Mr Hunzvi.
A representative of the Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU) has said that in the interest of
"national unity" he believed a solution would be
reached.
Attacks
There were also unconfirmed reports overnight
of violence against white farmers and black
farmworkers in the Marondera district further
east.
According to Reuters
news agency, farmers
in the area said on
Thursday that they had
found the body of a
black foreman missing
since farmer David
Stevens was killed on
Saturday.
Reuters said no details
were available on the
identity of the foreman
or the circumstances of
his death.
"There were a lot of
attacks of farm workers in their compounds
last night," a farmer from the Marondera area
about 100km (62 miles) east of Harare told
Reuters.
Some white farmers are leaving their farms
altogether, while others have sent their
families to stay in major cities.
Farmers say busloads of war veterans are
moving into the eastern highlands and the
ranch lands northwest of the capital, Harare.
They fear a new wave of farm seizures.
ZIMBABWE National Army (ZNA) officers have been deployed
to direct
farm invasions by Zanu PF supporters and war veterans,
the Zimbabwe
Independent learnt this week.
The ex-combatants, who have occupied about 700 farms and
are
terrorising farmers and their workers, now have
"commanders" from the
ZNA appointed by government to coordinate supplies for
the
ex-combatants who have killed two farmers so far. Many
more have
been assaulted.
Sources told the Independent that the military officers
were responsible
for co-ordinating logistics to ensure that there was
reliable food and other
essential supplies. This, sources said, explained the use
of AK-47
assault rifles and other automatic weapons by those
invading farms and
police inertia in reacting to reported instances of
violence and murder on
the farms. Nobody has been arrested for the murder of two
farmers in
Macheke and Nyamandlovu.
Sources said some of the army officers were using
government trucks
to transport food to the invading war veterans and Zanu
PF supporters.
"The plain-clothed army officers stationed at the
occupied farms disguise
themselves as war veterans and they have played a very
influential role
in the upkeep of the invaders," a source said.
The Independent, which first disclosed the role of
intelligence officers in
directing war veterans to specific farms, has further
evidence that the
war veterans are being used by Zanu PF leaders to get
even with their
political opponents.
The ex-combatants-turned-militias this week invaded
Zimbabwe
Ambassador to the United Nations Tichaona Jokonya's
Elivington Farm
in Beatrice. They were also threatening to occupy
suspended Harare city
council Director of Engineering, Christopher Zvobgo's
Alicedale Farm in
the same area. Last week the ex-combatants temporarily
occupied the
farm and set up shacks on it.
Sources told the Independent in Beatrice that
ex-combatants were sent
by their political masters to occupy Alicedale West farm
because they
thought it belonged to Minister Without Portfolio Eddison
Zvobgo who is
brother to Christopher. The war veterans were saying
their "chefs" told
them Minister Zvobgo was not cooperating with the Zanu PF
leadership
on farm invasions.
Information at hand shows that the war veterans this week
drove a
government truck to Christopher Zvobgo's house on the
farm and
demanded documentary proof that he owned the farm. Zvobgo
was said
to have complied and gave them documents showing that he
was the
legal owner of the farm.
However, a spokesman for the ex-combatants - who is a ZNA
military
officer - boasted the war veterans enjoyed the support of
President
Robert Mugabe and would occupy the farm that belonged to
Christopher.
The ZNA officer insisted the farm belonged to Minister
Zvobgo.
"Zvobgo (Eddison) came here last week to talk to us about
the issue but
we know the farm belongs to him," the ZNA officer told
the Independent in
an interview at the farm this week.
Sources also told the Independent that the fiery war
veterans were
dispatched by Jokonya's detractors to invade his farm
which lies next to
Christopher Zvobgo's about 50 kilometres south of Harare
along the
Masvingo road.
When the Independent visited the farms this week, the
ex-combatants
were gathered at Rosarum Business Centre, adjacent to the
farms,
celebrating the country's 20th Independence anniversary.
They were
eating and drinking at the shops. They had spent the
previous night
quaffing beer and roasting meat which was supplied by
government,
sources said.
The war veterans spokesman said they would stay put on
Jokonya's
property and take over Zvobgo's farm because these farms
were being
underutilised. The war veterans interviewed by the
Independent firmly
refused to identify themselves claiming the media was
misrepresenting
their "demonstrations" as invasions.
"We are finished with white farms, we have invaded all of
them and we
are now moving into those owned by blacks," the spokesman
said.
"Jokonya and Zvobgo's farms are underutilised and that's
why we are
moving in there," he said.
While part of Elivington farm appeared derelict, the
Independent could
not find any portion of the Alicedale farm lying idle.
Sources at Zvobgo's
farm said the property was fully utilised because it had
100 hectares of
maize crop, 10 hectares of paprika, seven hectares of
sugar beans, and
six hectares of market gardening. In addition, there were
200 cattle, 150
pigs, 150 goats, and 100 sheep.
A source at Alicedale said: "It has nothing to do with
how the farm is
utilised but it's a personal vendatta against the farm
owner, Chris
Zvobgo".
However, Minister Zvobgo said the farm belonged to his
brother and he
had spoken to the war veterans leader Chenjerai Hunzvi
about the issue.
HARARE, April 20 (AFP) - White farmers forced out of Zimbabwe by
political violence and land seizures would be warmly welcomed in the
neighbouring states of Mozambique and Zambia, officials in the two
countries said Thursday.
Zambia's Deputy Minister of Lands Ackim Nkole told AFP his
government would be pleased to receive white farmers as settlers if
they had to relocate.
"It is a very good move. But proper channels have to be
followed," Nkole said, adding that the farmers would have to meet
the requirements of the Zambia Investment Centre.
Zambia National Farmers' Union president Ajay Vashee told AFP
Wednesday that he had received inquiries from white Zimbabweans in
the wake of the government-backed invasion of hundreds of farms by
thousands of squatters.
"We are telling them that the Zambian government respects
investors and security of land tenure," Vashee said.
He said his union was encouraging Zimbabweans who wished to
relocate to take advantage of Zambia's liberalised market system.
The Zambian government recently said it had no plans to seize
land from the country's estimated 900 white commercial farmers.
In Mozambique, meanwhile, the independent Metical newspaper
reported that negotiations for the settlement of about 150 white
Zimbabwean farmers in the eastern Manica province were close to
conclusion.
The paper quoted provincial Governor Felicio Zacarias as saying
they would be granted land in the districts of Barue, which was
sparsely populated and had little potential for land conflicts.
He said up to 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) could be
available for commercial farming in the province.
Zacarias said the first group of 40 Zimbabwean farmers and their
families could begin settling there by the beginning of the next
agricultural season in September.
The paper said negotiations over the settlement scheme began
last year, in the wake of a similar agreement with white South
African farmers, about 20 of whom have settled in the northern
Niassa province.
Agriculture in Zimbabwe, where some 4,000 white farmers dominate
the large-scale commercial sector, is the traditional backbone of an
economy more developed than those of Zambia and Mozambique.
WASHINGTON, April 20 (AFP) - US President Bill Clinton has
conferred with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the deadly
violence in Zimbabwe and is satisfied with his leadership on the
matter, the White House said Thursday.
"The president had a discussion yesterday with Prime Minister
Blair, who is obviously taking a leadership role in condemning
what's going on in Zimbabwe," spokesman Joe Lockhart said of
Wednesday's call between the two leaders.
Since mid-February more than 1,000 farms have been occupied by
war veterans as part of a campaign for land reform and two white
farmers have been killed.
Police have said they cannot halt the attacks due to lack of
personnel and President Robert Mugabe has raised the alarm by
condemning the white farmers as "enemies."
Asked whether Clinton was satisfied with Blair's involvement in
the conflict, Lockhart said only "Yes."
The spokesman noted that the United States has already taken
action itself, suspending aid to Zimbabwe's land reform plan, and
added "we'll be making our case," but he did not elaborate.
The presidents of Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia
are holding a summit Friday and will discuss the farm occupations,
but Lockhart said only that US officials "have had a number of
conversations with a number of governments" on the matter.
He refused to give any details on those discussions and State
Department spokesman James Rubin equally was keeping mum on US
contacts with Zimbabwe or its neighbors.
"I'm not going to comment on what they're saying behind the
scenes other than to say that what they're saying on the record is
what's of particular concern to us," he said.
"This is a situation where the public climate is being incited
by irresponsible statements by the leadership there, where the
climate of violence is being made worse by these public statements,"
he said.
"We certainly hope that other leaders would share our concern
about the climate that has been created and the need to uphold the
rule of the law," Rubin said of the summit.
FROM DANIEL MCGRORY IN KWEKWE AND JAN RAATH IN
HARARE
AN exodus began last night of
hundreds of women and
children fleeing farms from
almost half of Zimbabwe after a
brutal cycle of rapes and
attacks brought the spectre of
Balkans-style ethnic cleansing to
southern Africa.
The Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) issued the order to
6,000 outlying families spread
over farms in Matebeleland and
Manicaland in the east and the
Midlands province to leave as
fast as they could. For some, however, the evacuation order
- known as Code Orange - came too late.
The tide of brutal lawlessness unleashed by President
Mugabe and his mobs of war veterans spread when two
young white women were gang-raped on a farm just outside
Harare on the country's bloody independence day.
The choice of victims, nieces of a senior figure in the CFU,
was seen as proof that its leaders are being targeted for
attacks. Tonia Jowett, 25, and her sister, Laura Wiggins, 18,
were each raped in succession by two assailants among
about five men who stormed their home that night. They
agreed for their names to be published to draw attention to
the ordeal they suffered.
Mrs Jowett's husband, Brendan, 28, was knocked senseless
when a brick was smashed into his face repeatedly. Mrs
Jowett had furniture oil poured over her after her ordeal in a
failed attempt to burn them to death in their cottage on
Chedgelow farm, about six miles south of Harare.
Police denied that the attack was "political" - that it was
another brutal raid by veterans. But the evidence suggested
otherwise.
Mr Jowett said in an interview with The Times that the
attackers had repeatedly asked Miss Wiggins who she was
going to vote for and whether she supported the Movement
for Democratic Change.
Last night Mr Mugabe, the commerical farmers'
representatives and the veterans association, whose
members are illegally seizing white land, met in Harare but
there was little hope of an end to the crisis.
In spite of growing uproar around the world at the rising
violence - from the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the
European Union and various African states - Mr Mugabe
has shown no signs of backing away. Tony Blair yesterday
condemned what was happening as "barbaric and
disgraceful" but ruled out early action to suspend Zimbabwe
from the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister gave warning
in the Commons against overreacting to the "utterly
unacceptable" situation.
The world's condemnation provided little comfort for the
white Zimbabweans who spent their first night as refugees in
their own country yesterday.
Derrick Arlett-Johnson, leader of the Midlands CFU, told
The Times last night: "We can't risk people's lives any longer
so regrettably we decided women and children should move
into their nearest town as quickly as they can."
There were unconfirmed reports last night of another farmer
shot while defending his property.
Many families grabbed what they could last night and left
their farms before darkness as mobs of so-called veterans
intensified their intimidation of white farmers and their black
workforce across an everwider swath of Zimbabwe.
Keith Kennedy, 38, a farmer and professional hunter from
Kwekwe, told how his chief tracker was hanged by a mob
on Sunday night. "The police tried to say it was suicide. The
man had his feet bound with bark, he was badly beaten. He
has ten children and has worked with me for 15 years."
A woman farm owner, who asked not to be named,
described how two days ago her foreman was taken by a
lynch mob and hanged from a tree. "He had helped to save
me when a gang tried to invade my farm about six weeks
ago," she said.
Another unnamed farmer and his wife had petrol poured
over them. Their lives were spared only when the mob
discovered that none of them had any matches and their
workforce was able to free them.
Farmers are being advised to take weapons away from their
workers in case their homes are ransacked by the veterans,
who are already squatting on many farms.
---------------------------------------------------
Father relives ordeal of rape attack
"WE are alive," was the only thought Brendan Jowett
could manage beyond his immediate shock after being
brutally beaten before Tonia, his wife, and Laura Wiggins,
her sister, were raped in their home just outside Harare.
Mrs Jowett, who works for Lufthansa Cargo in Harare,
walked on to the verandah of the cottage just after 9pm
on Tuesday night when a man rushed at her from the dark
and seized her by the throat.
Another four rushed past and fell on Mr Jowett inside.
"Two of them held me while another hit me repeatedly in
the face with a brick until I went down," he said. They
bound his hands and feet with neckties.
The men demanded money, the keys for the safe and the
keys for Mr Jowett's pick-up truck. They took his wife
into the bedroom, tied her feet and hands and gagged her.
In the next door room they found Miss Wiggins, hiding in
a cupboard.
She was also bound, but not gagged and left in the
nextdoor room. He was dragged into the main bedroom
where his wife was on the bed.
"They cut her shorts. The first one raped her. Then the
second one."
They moved into the next door room where Miss Wiggins
lay. "They kept on questioning her, who she was going to
vote for. She said she didn't know any party. Then they
raped her as well. I could hear."
One of them found a two-litre bottle of furniture oil, and
began splashing it all over the house, and across Mrs
Jowett. "They tried to ignite it, first with matches, and then
with a log from the fire. They failed. It is not inflammable.
They thought it was petrol."
They gave up and loaded the back of the pickup truck
with stolen goods. "Then it was quiet," Mr Jowett said.
Mrs Jowett loosed her bonds and released the other two.
They crawled under the security fence of the farm and
walked barefoot to police.
The English-trained silversmith who ran a workshop on
the farm suffered severe facial bruising and lacerations, a
broken nose, concussion and cuts from where they tried
to slash his arms.
When the three finally reached a private hospital, there
were no supplies available for the two women of the
anti-HIV cocktail that is standard formula for rape victims.
It was found and administered at lunchtime yesterday,
about 15 hours after the attack. However, their
gynaecologist was adamant that the delay was "not
critical" in preventing the onset of HIV-Aids.
None of the police stations in the capital had stocks of the
"rape kit" issued by police for internal forensic
examinations of traces of the assailants' semen.