The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
Back to Index
Back to the Top
Back to Index
COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION
Farm Invasions and Security Report
Monday 12 November 2001


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This report does not purport to cover all the incidents that are taking place in the commercial farming areas. Communication problems and the fear of reprisals prevent farmers from reporting all that happens. Farmers names, and in some cases farm names, are omitted to minimise the risk of reprisals.

NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF:

·        Bindura – Farmer and Foreman attacked and beaten

·        Kadoma – Farmer held for three nights by the police

·        Horseshoe – Two farm workers severely beaten by war vets

·        Mvurwi – Farmer beaten then barricaded in his house with his family    

 MASHONALAND CENTRAL

Bindura - On Bourtenvale Farm illegal settlers ordered all production on Hypericum flowers to cease. The farm labourers were ordered to return to the farm village, and cattle were prevented from being watered. After numerous calls to the DA's office to be vised by the Deputy DA that he was in meetings,  the owner eventually spoke to the DA and  was told to go ahead and water the cattle and the flowers. Upon reaching the flowers the owner and the flower supervisor were attacked with stones and the supervisor was beaten with sticks. They were both verbally abused and told to leave, which they did. The owner was awaiting the arrival of the DA. The Police arrived on Friday night and the farmer has been allowed to resume work on his Hypericum flowers. Ten hectares of gum trees were set alight on Morioto Farm. 

Glendale – On Harmony Farm there is a work stoppage and illegal settlers are making huge demands for fertiliser and seed inputs in exchange for allowing the farmer to continue farming. The demands were refused. The DA in Concession suggested that the farmer and the illegal settlers meet at his office to resolve the matter, but the illegal settlers refused to attend. They later told the DA that the farmer had refused to take them to see him  Nothing has been done either by the DA's office or the Police to resolve the situation. The farmer  spoke to the leading war veteran on his cellphone, but has not seen him since.  A tractor arrived and began disking but was stopped by another illegal settler, only to  resume the next day. The Police visited the illegal settlers but nothing was resolved and the disking continues. An unmarked vehicle arrived and placed steel pegs with paint markings around Harmony Farm without anyone attempting to advise the owner.  Planting has begun next to the illegal settlers’ base.  Repeated attempts to resolve the standoff with the DA have failed because the illegal settlers are always unavailable for one reason or another.  Work stoppages are continuing in various parts of the district and bush fires and burning of cattle fodder continue. A number of military vehicles have been seen in the area.

Horseshoe - The owner of Manovi Farm was involved in a daylight robbery attempt by an illegal settler on his farm. Whilst riding on his motor bike the farmer hit a taut line which had been strung across the road.  The illegal settler was standing beside the road and was pointing a catapult at the farmer. A report was made to the Police but no action has been taken. On Nyamfuta Farm the illegal settlers forced the labourers to attend a meeting where a total work stoppage was called. The Police were called and arrived 5 hours later, but nothing was resolved. The illegal settlers went on to tell the labourers to demand payoff packages and leave the farm. The farmer was ordered to remove his cattle from the farm. The farmer and the labourers refused to attend a second meeting. The illegal settlers and the Police left later that afternoon without finding a resolution and the labourers went back to work. A large fire was started apparently in an effort to force the farmer to remove his cattle. At around midnight shots were fired at the crop guards  A report was made to the Police but there has been no response.  On Penrose Farm a crop guard followed poachers with dogs and upon finding them was attacked by the dogs. He shot and killed two dogs and the poachers fled and left behind various spears and axes. The resident war veterans and neighbouring labourers from Siyalima Farm harassed and threatened the manager and told him to vacate his house. When the manager refused they left to fetch reinforcements from the neighbouring farm. They returned and again harassed the manager and beat the guard. The illegal settlers and war veterans then forced the manager and the labourers to attend a "pungwe" where they threatened the manager again and told him to be off the farm by the 13th of November. The Police were called and they arrived at 8pm (4 members of the support unit, one plain clothed and two Police officers) but no resolution has been found. On Chingoma Farm a poacher was caught stealing fish. His net was confiscated and as he left he started two fires. On Amajuba Farm two farm workers have been severely beaten by the resident war veterans. A report was made to the Police with no response. The illegal settlers have begun stumping coffee trees in the coffee plantation on Mapetu Farm.

Porte Valley/Shamva - An armed robbery took place on Walwyn Farm, committed by the gold panners who are resident there.

Mvurwi - On Visa Farm,  a group of illegal settlers forced their way past the security guard and made their way to the homestead, whilst the owner was in town. The owner's wife and daughter locked themselves in the house and called the owner and the Police. The Police were ferried to the farm by the Security firm's vehicle which subsequently had a flat tyre. Consequently when the farmer arrived home he was surrounded by the settlers who beat him on the head and body with sticks. The Police arrived and did nothing to stop the beating. Meanwhile the farmer managed to get in the house and barricaded himself and his family inside and the settlers poured water down the chimney and through the windows that they had broken. Extensive damage was done to the furniture in the house. Once the settlers had left, the farmer then went to Malvern House (an old age home) were he had four stitches put in the wound on his head by the attendant nurse. The settlers subsequently had a meeting with the farmer's labour and threatened to beat him again. Although this farmer has only been issued with a Section 5 the settlers have told him that the farm now belongs to them.

MASHONALAND WEST (SOUTH)

Norton - The D.A. pegging team continues to peg on both listed and unlisted farms.  One of the owner’s of a property that is currently being pegged, produces maize and soya seed enough to bring in Z$2 billion  On One Farm the owner started work and switched on the pumps.  Whereupon Illegal occupiers slashed one of his six inch pipes and Police were called but have not resolved the issue.  The farmer has re-commenced work since.  On the same property a tractor driver was threatened with a shotgun.

Selous - On Exwick Farm an army Mercedes lorry, Reg 51S-F9, brought on cattle with wing commander Mazamban.  Wing commander Mazamban and four others made an unauthorised entry into the homestead and told the owner to vactae. On Claremont  a beast was slaughtered, the thieves apprehended and taken to the police station, where they have been arrested.  Police have also apprehended six persons involved in the theft of fertilizer last week, and one tonne of this has been retrieved.

Chakari - On Blackmorvale Farm around fifty illegal occupiers entered the owner’s garden where they have been for the last 24 hours playing drums throughout the night.  Police did attend but nothing has taken place to resolve the situation.

Kadoma - A farmer was held for three nights for allegedly contravening Section 24 of the Law and Order Maintenance Act.  On one of the nights spent in Harare central he was with 26 others on a concrete floor, in a room no more than twenty square metres, with a toilet in the corner.  He has been released on bail.

MASHONALAND EAST
Beatrice - New retreat Farm  20- 30 war vets from Joyce mine, led by Carter and Maddox, told the owner to stop farming immediately and to expect a visit from comrade Zhau.  Zhau finally arrived and said the owner should not have been farming and the planted crops would be shared among the settlers. The owner was castigated by Zhau and told to report to the D.A. to learn what his punishment would be. The owner refused to go.  On Karreeboom the owner was approached by a group of settlers led by Chitsinde, who is based on Argile They wanted to know the whereabouts of two tractors from Ngesi farm The tractor owner, the farm owner and the labourers were summoned to the base on Argile farm. They were told by Chitsinde that the tractors were not to stay on Karreeboom and he also demanded to see the purchase papers of the newer tractor. The situation was resolved.  On Argile settlers ploughed land in front of the owners house.  A mini bus arrived over the weekend with civil servants from Harare.  On Brakvelt which is an unlisted farm, a base has been built at the entrance.  Planting is taking place on Adlams Rest, near the store on the boundary of the Mondoro Communal land.  Silver Oaks Farm has been delisted by the Court, yet the farmer has been prevented from planting 120ha Maize.  The farm manager on Alamein was instructed by Zhau to start ridging immediately and start planting by Monday.  There would be no guarantee who the crop belonged to. The owner and his wife are still off the farm.

Enterprise – On Mount Lothian illegal settlers demanded keys to the evicted workers’ house. They threatened that if they did not get the keys they would move into the house with the owner. It was finally resolved.

Marondera South -  Waratah Farm which is not designated was ordered to start farming .

Marondera North – On Inandu shots were fired with a heavy rifle.

Harare South - Auks Nest had a visit from a person in a White V.W. Jetta who dropped off seed.  A B2500 and a blue tractor arrived and the drivers talked to the settlers and then left.  Illegal settler Sekeremayi arrived on Dunluce with bricks for his house.

Featherstone - Kuruman reported the dairy was broken into and cleaning chemicals, veterinary equipment and dairy oil was stolen. Tracks led to the "plot" of the ex-foreman on the next door farm, but a local war vet asked the farmer not to report the matter to the police as he would find out who stole the property. Later a meeting was held in the dairy by the Chikomba Land Committee, who advised they would handle the matter.  On Pennyfather further demands were made for compensation to be paid for paprika eaten by the owner’s horses.  On R/E Kuruman a Mr Makweza (youth) from Calais Farm ordered the workers to vacate the village. A report was received that a vehicle with illegal occupiers  moved into the  workers’ village. A further 10-12 people carrying sticks and pangas were seen moving towards the village. There has been an increase in vehicle movement of illegal occupiers, plus foot movement which might be linked to the supposed arrival of voter registration personnel. On Versailles +/- 12 illegal occupiers threatened workers with violence and demand compensation for "crops" destroyed by cattle. Police say they will react if anything of a criminal nature takes place. The owner of Leeufontein has been given two weeks to move the cattle off the property. In the last two weeks the owner has lost 13 head of cattle to snares and two in wells dug by the illegal occupiers. The owner has been advised that the only way the cattle are permitted to stay on the property is if they are "farmed out" between the illegal occupiers and grazing fees are paid. The owner of De La Quellerie returned to find an increase in illegal occupiers.  He reported fighting between the old and new settlers over land that has been ploughed. The roof has been stolen off the borehole and water troughs have been damaged. There appears to be a move to chase the cattle off the property. The owner of Vergenoeg was told that the sheep are not allowed into the paddock to graze.

Macheke Virginia - Athlone Farm had 190m fencing stolen during the night and Soft Farm had a small motor stolen.  Exeter Farm owner reported a green truck Reg No: 680977R, and a green Mercedes, visited the tractor from Murewa Rural Council, which is ploughing extensively on Exeter, Athlone and Bogota. More illegal settlers arrived on the farms, one with his own ox drawn plough, and many cattle.  Hilton Farm reported the presence of government evaluators on the farm. On Mignon Farm the Assistant D.A. by the name of Robert arrived from Murewa to mediate. The war vets were unhappy with the farmer for feeding his labour every Tuesday and the D.A. informed the farmer that Zimbabwe was not a welfare state, and if he wished to donate maize to them, he was to do it through his Government offices. Quote "we will feed them, not you, war vets do not want to see labourers on this farm" This was unacceptable to the farmer. The owner has 90 head of cattle and the war vets say they must only graze in the hills which are barren of grazing, in addition to this they are demanding payment in advance for three head of cattle per month OR $2700 a month.  The war vets complained that the farmer was sometimes armed.  The Farmer explained war vets have axes and sticks when they confront him in large numbers. A.D.A. told war vets to be "reasonable" and not be armed when talking to the farmer. The A.D.A.told the war vets that he did not want to return to Mignon, and confront problems, so they must negotiate with the farmer themselves. The war vets demanded that the owner only be allowed to work within his security fence, only be allowed to employ 5 workers who would be selected by the war vets. They also want the removal of his manager. On  Craiglea farm the manager was informed that all cattle are to be removed and all the labour to be paid off.  New invasions had occurred on Murrayfield Farm On Anwa Farm war vets from Fault Farm are cutting gums trees and timber.  On Howgate farm one of the committee of 7 war vets was caught with stolen fertilizer. The police reacted together with Macheke Security and apprehended the suspect.  Nyadora farm reported 4 cows with calves on the farm with the brand 9fh, the owner is unknown.  The Manager of Craigielea has been ordered to remove all cattle and pay off all the labour.

Wedza – On Bristol 1 weaner was stolen and 1 slashed. On Mbima two youths  demanded access to a house in the barn complex where they already had some of their belongings and also demanded payment for guarding the workshops etc. This was refused and the police notified. The police arrived later in the morning and told them they were to remove their belongings and leave. On Saturday the same two told the few workers left that they must be paid off and  must leave and not work. The owner picked up the police from Wedza and while there saw both Chigwedere and Mureverwe,who denied knowing anything about the incident. The police, unable to find the two concerned, told the people at the Markwe camp to tell them that if they did not desist they would be arrested and jailed.  On Markwe illegal settlers were seen planting maize in a land prepared for tobacco. Dean had 280 meters of 4 strand fencing stolen. The culprit was seen taking the wire away in a wheelbarrow. The police were informed but as of Friday had not responded. Two cases of poaching were reported on Imire The occupants of Welton had a break-in and their music system and records were stolen. On Leapyear three fires were started on Thursday night. Agritex arrived to do a feasibility study on Brantingham

MANICALAND

Rusape - On Sharondale the owner, who is closing up and leaving, was stopped from loading his cattle on to a lorry yesterday by his workers and war vets.  Eventually police with dogs came and the owner was eventually able to get the cattle off the farm and the police arrested four people.

Inyazura – The owner of Drene Farm and one of his workers were approached by an armed war vet who wanted to complain about cattle destroying his crop and threatened action by the ZDF.

MASVINGO

Masvingo East and Central Area -  On Chidza Farm 19 cows and 4 calves were stolen over the weekend and then recovered 5km into the communal lands.

Chiredzi Area - Agritex with letters signed by the DA Chiredzi,  confirmed by PA Masvingo, have commenced pegging of the sugar cane farms, Lot 1 of Ruware / Pastoral Investments The owner of Faversham Ranch reports that officials visited over the weekend and informed the owner that they will be coming to peg lands he is not putting to use.
General - Planting has commenced all over with the rains received. Poaching and snaring continue unabated. There is movement of people on all properties and theft of firewood, cutting of trees, clearing of lands and movement of cattle continues.

Mwenezi Area - The usual criminal activities continue  - cutting, burning, building, snaring (wildlife and cattle), poaching with dogs, breaking pipes, stealing pumped water, destroying and stealing fence wire, leaving gates open and movement of cattle without permits onto increasingly scarce grazing. Fires caused by squatters have been burning large areas of grazing, although this has not occurred during the past two days. . On Saturday the FA Chairman reports that the army and police have requested farm/s in Mwenezi on which to dump cattle, and, presumably, people being evicted from the Bubiana Conservancy. The claim is that there are too many cattle for the area offered by the conservancy. These squatters originate from Mberengwa, however the argument given was that as they are now in Mwenezi it is a Mwenezi problem. Despite severe restrictions on cattle movement, to try to curb FMD spread, permits were demanded. The Vet Dept pointed out that movement is not allowed and declined to issue permits. The DA, was not available (being the weekend) to "allocate" farm/s. On Joko/Kleinbegin/Kayansee the owner has developed a pasture, which he has used to bail hay to feed cattle for the past fifteen years. Illegal occupiers who want to divide it into plots and resettle there are now threatening this pasture. DDF have also started ploughing on the outskirts of this pasture.   The owner received a veterinary movement permit to move his cattle from one farm to another. The DA in Beitbridge has declared this illegal and is now threatening to lock up the owner. The entire civil service, ZRP, and Veterinary Department in Beitbridge will not commit themselves nor carry out any work unless approved by the DA. On Battlefields Ranch the owner reported another three paddocks burnt. Four Impala and 2 Giraffe have been found. Poachers allegedly killed them.
Gutu / Chatsworth Area - There has been continued harassment over the weekend on Crownlands from illegal occupiers chasing all owners’ cattle off this property.  Grasslands A -Friday morning last week illegal occupiers would not allow the owner to open his cattle kraal and let cattle out. Eventually illegal occupiers opened the kraal and chased and scattered the cattle all over the farm. Due to the continued harassment over the past two weeks stock theft and the slaughtering of 180 head of cattle has occurred. Fencing is continually being stolen and as a result the owner is having to kraal all his cattle at night and herd by day. The owner has eventually confined his cattle to one corner, but again illegal occupiers cut those fences and dispersed the cattle  Illegal occupiers then gathered at the kraal armed with sticks and making threats to beat the farm labour if they made any effort to return the owners’ cattle.  All of the above has been reported to the PA, DA and PROPOL and a response is awaited.  On other occasions labour have been threatened in the presence of Police Officials who have laughed at the harassment. It has also been established that two officials from Gutu and Chatsworth Police Stations have been issued with plots on this farm.
Save Conservancy Area – On Chigwete Ranch  the owner reported that there was evidence of massive re-invasion. This time the people who are moving onto the property originate from the Chipinge Area. Poaching is totally out of control. Police and army will not allow an anti poaching unit to operate. Last week it was reported that the Anti Poaching Unit arrested a poacher and the army and police confronted the game scouts for making the arrest. Erecting of huts continues.
MIDLANDS

General - The situation remains unchanged in the main. Lawlessness continues with police reaction very often half-hearted or non-existent. Stock theft and poaching have reached alarming proportions. Many farmers, particularly in the Sherwood area in Kwekwe, are still not allowed to plant for the coming season. Grazing is a major problem due to veld fires and disputes over where cattle are permitted to be on farms continues. The atmosphere is tense and the authorities do very little, or nothing at all, to address this.

Kwekwe - On Jenville farm, 3 pivot sprinklers stolen and on Igogo, two sheep and two Goats slaughtered. The stock thieves had obviously also tried for two cattle as well but it seems they were disturbed.

Back to the Top
Back to Index
ZIMBABWE: Hundreds of white commercial farmers face eviction

JOHANNESBURG, 13 November (IRIN) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has passed a decree, amending the country's Land Acquisition Act so that white commercial farmers can be forced off their land with immediate effect.

Mugabe used a presidential decree to amend the law at the weekend so his government could seize white-owned farms, targeted for redistribution to landless blacks, despite legal challenges from the owners.
 
The decision means that farmers who have been issued with acquisition orders by the government will have to stop farming immediately and remain confined to their houses, which they will have to vacate after three months.
 
Previously, land-acquisition orders had to pass through the courts first, now the courts will examine cases retrospectively. The President of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) president Colin Cloete, told IRIN that farming was likely to stop on almost 800 farms currently under acquisition orders.

"These regulations have widespread implications for the commercial agricultural sector both in respect of continuing farming operations and the resettlement programme," he said.

The government said it had taken the decision because the farmers were abusing the court system to frustrate land reform. But the CFU said it had agreed with government earlier this year to drop court cases against it as a precursor to a negotiated deal over land redistribution.

Economists told IRIN that the decision to evict farmers from land targeted for acquisition would fuel the country's growing food crisis and further reduce export earnings as more farmers abandoned commercial agriculture.

Mugabe's decision to evict white farmers came in the same week as a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assessment mission was about to begin work in the country.

The mission, which also comprises people from the European Commission (EC), Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank, as well as technical advisers from the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) will try to come up with a programme for land reform acceptable to all stakeholders.

Self-styled war veterans and militants loyal to the government have occupied an estimated 1,700 white-owned farms over the last 18 months, demanding that they be redistributed to landless blacks. These occupations and the violence that has often accompanied them, has meant that farming activities have been seriously disrupted.

News24

'Land reform' in overdrive

Harare - The Zimbabwean government on Monday banned 1 000 white farmers from
working their fields and gave them three months to vacate their homes as
part of its "fast track" land redistribution plan.

The government has targeted a total of 5 000 white-owned commercial farms,
about 95 percent of all farms owned by whites, for seizure and
redistribution to landless blacks.

In a government gazette released on Monday, President Robert Mugabe invoked
special powers forcing the 1 000 farmers who had already received
notification their land was being seized to stop all work on it, regardless
of whether they had crops waiting to be harvested or appeals of the seizures
pending in court.

They had three months to leave their houses.

Lands and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said the government would begin
allocating plots on the farms to 51 000 black families.

He said 201 000 black families had already been resettled as communal
farmers on formerly white farms, a number white farmers dispute as vastly
exaggerated.

"This [plan] is now fundamentally complete and has been a major success,"
Made said.

500 farms lying idle

White farmers say over 500 farms are lying idle as a result of political
violence, while many others are in only partial production, with militants
occupying some of the fields.

Ruling party militants began occupying white-owned commercial farms in March
2000, soon after voters rejected a constitutional referendum that would have
further entrenched the powers of Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since
independence in 1980. The government later announced its plans to seize the
white farms.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 57 of the 120
elected seats in parliamentary elections in June 2000, despite a campaign
election monitors said was rife with violence, mainly caused by ruling party
supporters.

Opposition officials accuse the government of using land seizures to garner
support and further intimidate political opponents ahead of what promises to
be hard-fought presidential elections next year.

Vice President Joseph Msika said on Sunday the government supported arming
the ruling party militants following the abduction of one of their leaders.

"If [the opposition] are looking for a blood bath, they will certainly get
one," Msika told state radio and the government-controlled Bulawayo
Chronicle.

Search of MDC offices

Police arrested Simon Spooner, a white MDC member, on Monday in connection
with the abduction.

Also on Monday, police tried to search the MDC offices in Harare, but were
turned away when they could not produce a warrant.

The government's announcement of farm seizures on Monday would further
damage agriculture in a country deeply dependent on it, said Adrian de
Bourbon, a lawyer for the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents most
white farmers.

"I believe this is yet another nail in the coffin of commercial farming in
this country," he said.

Zimbabwe, which normally runs large food surpluses, was facing serious
shortages of food.

The United Nations World Food Programme announced last week plans to begin a
large-scale aid programme next month to assist more than half a million
hungry Zimbabweans.

De Bourbon said the 3 000 farmers who had received preliminary warnings the
state intended to seize their farms would likely begin receiving seizure
notices next week.

The move basically signaled the death of an agreement the government signed
in Abuja, Nigeria, in September promising an orderly and legal land reform
process and an end to political violence de Bourbon said. - Sapa-AP
The Times

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13 2001

4,000 Zimbabwe farmers to be evicted

FROM JAN RAATH IN HARARE

ZIMBABWE announced new measures yesterday to enable the Government to
nationalise up to 90 per cent of all white-owned land at the stroke of a
pen — a move expected to wipe out next year’s crops almost totally.
With immediate effect, 800 farmers have been given three months’ notice to
get off their land. The owners will be “confined to their homes” during the
three months while their properties are occupied by black settlers, Patrick
Chinamasa, the Justice Minister, said.

Every other white-owned farm that has been formally notified — about another
3,700 properties — that the Government intends to take will also be issued
with eviction orders, he said.

The first result will be that nearly all Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers will
cancel their cropping and livestock plans for the cropping season just
started, experts said. About 22 million acres, nearly all of it intensively
farmed, will fall out of production almost immediately.

“It is suicide,” John Robertson, an independent economist, said. “Anything
that has been planted will go to waste. Gross domestic product will be cut
by half. It will make us equal to the poorest countries in the world. These
are the actions of madmen.”

On Friday the Government passed a decree under President Mugabe’s sweeping
“presidential powers” that provided almost state-of-emergency authority.

Any farm issued with a “notice of acquisition” becomes state property
immediately. The Government can move settlers in and the owner is
immediately banned from any farming. Mr Chinamasa refused to say how long it
would take for the regime to sign all the orders for seizure.

The Commercial Farmers’ Union would not comment immediately, but one senior
official said privately: “This is very, very serious.”

The announcement came as the United Nations prepared to respond to the
Government’s appeal two weeks ago for nearly $365 million (£251 million) in
emergency relief for serious famine that has already begun. With food stocks
due to run out by the end of January, one million people are already in
“dire need” of food.

The decree is seen as the final act in Mr Mugabe’s campaign effectively to
end any significant white presence in the countryside and to avenge the
confiscation of land from blacks by white settlers, who began arriving 110
years ago.

The Telegraph

Mugabe orders 1,000 farmers to stop work
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 13/11/2001)


PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's regime banned 1,000 white farmers from working
their fields yesterday and gave them three months to leave their homes, as
part of its fast-track land redistribution plan.

Under special powers invoked by government decree, the farmers have been
notified that their land is to be seized, and that they are forbidden to
work even if crops are waiting to be harvested or appeals against the
seizures are pending. The farmers face two years in prison if they fail to
comply.

Legal experts said the decree cuts out any access farmers had to the courts
to contest the land seizure. "This is the worst possible thing that could
happen to commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe," said Adrian de Bourbon, who
has represented the Commercial Farmers' Union in legal actions against the
government since invasions of white-owned land began 20 months ago.

He said the move signalled the death of the Abuja agreement, signed in
September, when the government promised an orderly and legal land reform
process and an end to political violence.

The government has targeted 5,000 white-owned commercial farms, about 95 per
cent of all farms owned by whites, for seizure and redistribution to
landless blacks. It said that it would begin allocating plots to 51,000
black families on the farms to which the new ruling applies.

Joseph Made, lands and agriculture minister, said 201,000 black families had
already been resettled as communal farmers on formerly white farms, a number
the commercial farmers say is vastly exaggerated. "This [plan] is now
fundamentally complete and has been a major success," he said.

However, white farmers say more than 500 farms are lying idle as a result of
political violence, while many others are in only partial production, with
militants occupying some of the fields.

Professor Welshman Ncube, a leading constitutional lawyer and secretary
general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said: "The
president's powers are an essential instrument for a dictator and allow
Mugabe to wake up one day and make a new law regarding any matter he
considers either an emergency or urgent.

"I doubt whether this latest decree is constitutional. It should be
challenged, but with the courts as they are now, there is little chance of
success."

A leading tobacco farmer 80 miles north-west of Harare, who asked not to be
named, said yesterday: "This is the end of the road for us, it has finally
happened. All our efforts to continue farming have now been wiped out by the
president."

Last week the United Nations World Food Programme announced plans to begin
large-scale aid deliveries next month to help more than half a million
hungry Zimbabweans.

MDC officials accuse the government of using land seizures to intimidate
political opponents before next year's presidential elections.
Vice-President Joseph Msika said the government supported arming militant
supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF following the abduction of one of their
leaders.

"If [the opposition] are looking for a blood bath, they will certainly get
one," he said. Police arrested Simon Spooner, a white MDC member, in
connection with the abduction yesterday. They also tried to search the MDC
off
Back to the Top
Back to Index
An account of attacks on 3 farms committed on the night of 8th November by a
group of people led by one Bhebhe Musimbe.

In the afternoon of 8th November a group of Zanu Pf supporters led by Bhebhe
Musimbe went to the workers on Eirene Farm and told them that they were
coming that day to take over the farm. At 8 pm that night a mob of them went
through the farm village breaking down doors and  smashing windows, and set
fire to at least one house and a vegetable garden. A lot of the workers from
this farm have already fled in recent weeks, in fear of these violent
attacks. The mob then went on to Munemo Farm, where they beat up 25 workers,
some seriously. In a most sickening twist they also beat up a small child of
5, named Herbert Chikasa, and a woman who is 8 months pregnant, named Enesia
Makundesa. This woman was knocked unconscious, and later  admitted to
hospital for the night. Ten of the workers from Munemo were sent in to
Marondera to the Casualty Dept at the Marondera Hospital. The mob, believed
to number around 20 people,  also smashed doors and windows in the farm
village. They then went on to Mushangwe Farm, arriving there at around
11;30pm, and attacked the farm village there. They went down the lines of
houses evicting the workers from their homes, and assaulted around 11
people, who were later sent to hospital. The perpetrators of these evil acts
are believed to be the same people who assaulted 22 of the workers at Uitkyk
Farm on 13th October, 7 of them seriously , in a very similar attack. One of
them, Maphios Chayamiti, was lucky to survive, as his skull was fractured by
an axe.They are also the same group of lawless thugs who assaulted Hamish
Charters on the 8th October, an incident which he was lucky to survive, as
he also received an axe in his skull.No-one has been charged in the latter
case, and in the former two people were eventually arrested and remanded out
of custody, despite the gravity of the charges laid against them! The motive
for these attacks is not clear but there has been increasing pressure on the
farm workers to leave their jobs and homes and we believe that this is just
one more attempt to force them off the farms and into destitution. The
situation has deteriorated since a group of five farmers, Uitkyk, Eirene,  &
Munemo being part of this group, applied for and obtained a High Court Order
barring any settler or illegal occupants from evicting themselves or their
workers , or interfering with normal farming operations. This Order the
Police  and the District Administrator in Marondera have failed ( or
refused) to enforce. Whatever your country of origin or your native tongue,
one thing we all understand -  the vicious assault of a child is an
unforgivable, atrocious act. Please help us to stop this state sponsored
violence on innocent, defenceless people. We have witnesses, and digital
film of the victims of these attacks .
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Financial Times


Editorial comment: Aid to Mugabe
Published: November 12 2001 19:55 | Last Updated: November 12 2001 23:07



The crunch is coming for President Robert Mugabe. After denying that hunger
was imminent in Zimbabwe, his government has finally admitted that it needs
substantial food aid if half a million people are not to face starvation.
Having bankrupted a once flourishing economy, Mr Mugabe expects outsiders to
bear the cost of his follies. If a tragedy is to be averted, donors must
respond, but with appropriate conditions.

A severe drought is partly to blame for the food shortage. But the crisis is
also of Mr Mugabe's own making. Food supplies are becoming scarce because of
persistent disruption of white-dominated commercial agriculture. An
arbitrary, badly managed and often illegal land redistribution programme has
been used to intimidate the country's opposition, and to keep Mr Mugabe and
his ruling Zanu-PF party in power.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has stepped into the breach.
Last Thursday it announced a relief operation to feed Zimbabwe. It plans to
start operations in November, with food aid arriving in December.

The WFP announcement that it will supply Zimbabwe's needs may seem as no
more than a humanitarian response. It should, however, have consulted the
governments who will be bearing the cost, for donors should attach
conditions to their assistance.

The food must be distributed by local non-government organisations, assisted
if necessary by their international counterparts. The land grab must cease.
It would be absurd if a programme that contributes to the food shortage is
allowed to continue while the disastrous consequences of such a policy are
alleviated by the donors. International monitors should accompany the food
consignments. And they should stay to monitor the presidential elections,
due by next April.

Should Mr Mugabe reject these terms - as is likely - his government must
choose between the survival of a dictator and the interests of half a
million people. But without appropriate conditions, the well intentioned
approach of the World Food Programme will backfire, cushioning Mr Mugabe and
his regime from the consequences of their actions. Unconditional generosity
will do more long-term harm in Zimbabwe than short-term good.

Back to the Top
Back to Index
ZIMBABWE: Government to be sole distributor of food aid

JOHANNESBURG, 12 November (IRIN) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government declared on Sunday that it would bar non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from distributing food aid to alleviate growing hunger in parts of the country.

Ethan Mhlanga, programme coordinator for Oxfam in Zimbabwe told IRIN on Monday that his agency was seeking clarification from the government on the issue. "Obviously this would be a setback to our work," he said.
 
The government-controlled Sunday Mail quoted Information Minister Jonathan Moyo as saying that only the government would be allowed to participate in the issue of food given by donors, because NGOs would use food aid to campaign against Mugabe in presidential elections due at the end of March.

"Suggestions by these groups to distribute food through NGOs are totally unacceptable," Moyo was quoted as saying. "We will not allow any strangers to roam around our country interfering in the political affairs of our country."

Both the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Zimbabwe and the World Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN last week that they were concerned to insist on the equitable distribution of food aid to those most in need.

"What we are trying to put in place is a mechanism to ensure that the delivery of assistance is as transparent and impartial as possible," Jose Victor Angelo, UNDP Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe told IRIN.

A team of WFP emergency experts who recently returned from Zimbabwe strongly recommended a major emergency intervention to feed 558,000 rural people who face acute food shortages due to erratic rainfall, economic decline combined with steep rises in staple food prices, and disruption to the commercial farming sector due to land acquisition activities.

WFP announced on Thursday that it was launching a major feeding programme in Zimbabwe and that it hoped to have food in place by December. The agency told IRIN that it planned to distribute food in partnership with both the government and NGOs.

Diplomatic sources in Harare told IRIN that anti-NGO declarations from the government would do nothing to encourage donors to provide funds for food aid. "Donors want to help needy people, not fund Mugabe's election campaign," one diplomat said.
Back to the Top
Back to Index

From The Times (UK), 13 November

4,000 Zimbabwe farmers to be evicted

Harare - Zimbabwe announced new measures yesterday to enable the Government to nationalise up to 90 per cent of all white-owned land at the stroke of a pen - a move expected to wipe out next year’s crops almost totally. With immediate effect, 800 farmers have been given three months-notice to get off their land. The owners will be "confined to their homes" during the three months while their properties are occupied by black settlers, Patrick Chinamasa, the Justice Minister, said. Every other white-owned farm that has been formally notified - about another 3,700 properties - that the Government intends to take will also be issued with eviction orders, he said. The first result will be that nearly all Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers will cancel their cropping and livestock plans for the cropping season just started, experts said. About 22 million acres, nearly all of it intensively farmed, will fall out of production almost immediately. "It is suicide," John Robertson, an independent economist, said. "Anything that has been planted will go to waste. Gross domestic product will be cut by half. It will make us equal to the poorest countries in the world. These are the actions of madmen."

On Friday the Government passed a decree under President Mugabe’s sweeping "presidential powers" that provided almost state-of-emergency authority. Any farm issued with a "notice of acquisition" becomes state property immediately. The Government can move settlers in and the owner is immediately banned from any farming. Mr Chinamasa refused to say how long it would take for the regime to sign all the orders for seizure. The Commercial Farmers’ Union would not comment immediately, but one senior official said privately: "This is very, very serious." The announcement came as the United Nations prepared to respond to the Government’s appeal two weeks ago for nearly US$365 million in emergency relief for serious famine that has already begun. With food stocks due to run out by the end of January, one million people are already in "dire need" of food. The decree is seen as the final act in Mr Mugabe’s campaign effectively to end any significant white presence in the countryside and to avenge the confiscation of land from blacks by white settlers, who began arriving 110 years ago.

From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 13 November

Mugabe orders 1,000 farmers to stop work

Harare - President Robert Mugabe's regime banned 1,000 white farmers from working their fields yesterday and gave them three months to leave their homes, as part of its fast-track land redistribution plan. Under special powers invoked by government decree, the farmers have been notified that their land is to be seized, and that they are forbidden to work even if crops are waiting to be harvested or appeals against the seizures are pending. The farmers face two years in prison if they fail to comply. Legal experts said the decree cuts out any access farmers had to the courts to contest the land seizure. "This is the worst possible thing that could happen to commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe," said Adrian de Bourbon, who has represented the Commercial Farmers' Union in legal actions against the government since invasions of white-owned land began 20 months ago. He said the move signalled the death of the Abuja agreement, signed in September, when the government promised an orderly and legal land reform process and an end to political violence.

The government has targeted 5,000 white-owned commercial farms, about 95 per cent of all farms owned by whites, for seizure and redistribution to landless blacks. It said that it would begin allocating plots to 51,000 black families on the farms to which the new ruling applies. Joseph Made, lands and agriculture minister, said 201,000 black families had already been resettled as communal farmers on formerly white farms, a number the commercial farmers say is vastly exaggerated. "This [plan] is now fundamentally complete and has been a major success," he said. However, white farmers say more than 500 farms are lying idle as a result of political violence, while many others are in only partial production, with militants occupying some of the fields.

Professor Welshman Ncube, a leading constitutional lawyer and secretary general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said: "The president's powers are an essential instrument for a dictator and allow Mugabe to wake up one day and make a new law regarding any matter he considers either an emergency or urgent. I doubt whether this latest decree is constitutional. It should be challenged, but with the courts as they are now, there is little chance of success." A leading tobacco farmer 80 miles north-west of Harare, who asked not to be named, said yesterday: "This is the end of the road for us, it has finally happened. All our efforts to continue farming have now been wiped out by the president."

Last week the United Nations World Food Programme announced plans to begin large-scale aid deliveries next month to help more than half a million hungry Zimbabweans. MDC officials accuse the government of using land seizures to intimidate political opponents before next year's presidential elections. Vice-President Joseph Msika said the government supported arming militant supporters of the ruling Zanu PF following the abduction of one of their leaders. "If [the opposition] are looking for a blood bath, they will certainly get one," he said. Police arrested Simon Spooner, a white MDC member, in connection with the abduction yesterday. They also tried to search the MDC offices in Harare.

From ZWNEWS: The MDC security guards arrested last week in Bulawayo failed to be brought to court yesterday. Ronnie Zulu, Army Zulu, Sithabiso Mangala, Dropper Moyo and Mr I Moyo should have been brought before a magistrate and charged or released after having been held by police for more than 48 hours. Simon Spooner, arrested early yesterday in Bulawayo, was still in police custody late last night, and it is thought he may have been taken to Gweru. He has been denied his right of access to his lawyer since his arrest.

From The Star (SA), 12 November

Zim opposition offices raided by police

Harare - Police raided the headquarters of Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Monday, two days after supporters of President Robert Mugabe had besieged its offices over the disappearance of a party loyalist. Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Welshman Ncube said a squad from the Criminal Investigation Department tried to search the MDC administrative offices, but left after officials demanded to see a warrant. "They would not say why they wanted to search our offices, but they were probably looking for documents about how we are receiving funding," Ncube said. Earlier this year, Zimbabwe introduced a law making it a criminal offence for political parties to accept donations from foreign institutions or individuals.

 Independence war veterans and other supporters of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party besieged the MDC offices on Saturday over the disappearance of a war veteran a week ago. Witnesses said about 100 blocked a busy Harare street while a few forced their way into the offices. They said the group assaulted bystanders outside the building before slashing the tyres of a vehicle belonging to a senior MDC official. The MDC said police at the scene failed to react as party members were assaulted. No serious injuries were reported. The party denied involvement in veteran Cain Nkala's disappearance, saying Zanu PF wanted to whip up political tension ahead of a presidential election due next April.

An opinion poll released on Thursday showed Mugabe trailing MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai before the elections, but Zanu PF dismissed the poll as "rubbish". The MDC won 57 of 120 contested seats in last year's parliamentary elections and has gained support countrywide, including in Zanu PF'S traditional rural power bases, mainly due to an economic crisis widely blamed on Mugabe. At least 31 people, most of them opposition supporters, were killed in political violence ahead of voting in June 2000. Mugabe accuses the MDC of being a puppet of his domestic and international opponents who want to see him toppled in retaliation for his controversial programme to redistribute white-owned farms among landless blacks. He says Zimbabwe's economy has been sabotaged by these opponents. Civil rights groups have sharply criticised the government for trying to undermine the independence of the judiciary and the media in the lead up to national polls.

From Business Day (SA), 13 November

Opposition leader sees a need for restrictions, like travel bans, on leadership of Zimbabwe

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's official opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), called yesterday for SA to urgently consider sanctions against the country's leaders, and rejected an SA proposal for the creation of a government of national unity. While Tsvangirai rejected the notion of comprehensive sanctions because "they would have a devastating impact on ordinary Zimbabweans", he urged travel bans, the freezing of assets, and that the leadership's children who are working or studying abroad should be sent home. He compared this to some measures the global coalition is seeking to take against Taliban rulers of Afghanistan. SA's "engagement policy" had failed, Tsvangirai said. "If they (the SA government) keep quiet, they are condoning" what is happening.

Tsvangirai's comments could put pressure on the US and the European Union (EU) to rethink their plans to impose comprehensive sanctions. In the US, a version of a sanctions bill has passed through the senate, but is still before a committee of the House of Representatives. The EU has invoked a section of its agreement with African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries and, if talks with Harare fail, this could lead to sanctions. However, Southern African Development Community countries have come out against sanctions. Tsvangirai was speaking at an SA Institute of International Affairs conference in Johannesburg. His comments came as police raided the party's headquarters in Harare. An MDC official said that they were probably looking for evidence of the party receiving foreign funds. The MDC said that, since a law was passed banning offshore funding, it had not received any.

The conference drew a high-profile range of ministers, senior diplomats, academics, and business executives. One delegate warned that Zimbabwe was "a dagger at the heart of SA". A number of delegates left saying that the government and the MDC were talking past each other and they feared for the country's future. But Simba Makoni, Zimbabwe's finance minister, rejected the bleak future painted about the country, saying it had been "convicted, condemned, executed" without a trial. The SA government is opposed to sanctions and urged the creation of a government of national unity in the country. "Zimbabwe should look at all options, including a government of national unity," said Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad.

Tsvangirai said he would speak to Mugabe's government about "creating conditions for a code of conduct for free and fair elections", but not about "power-sharing arrangements". It was already too late to speak to the government about the land issue or the economy, but he was prepared to talk about issues that could be effected. Tsvangirai said one option that might be worth considering was a delay of next year's presidential election. Under the country's constitution, the election must be held before March 17. A delay would require a two-thirds approval in parliament, and thus need MDC support. This could be an option if the delay would mean that an election code of conduct could be properly implemented, and the time was used to establish peace and stability. Makoni said, while international monitors would not be allowed into the country during the national elections, international observers, which have a more limited mandate, would be welcome.

From The Cape Times (SA), 12 November

Militants beat magistrate for jailing comrade

Harare – Zanu PF militants assaulted a senior magistrate in Gokwe after he convicted a ruling party supporter on a robbery charge and sent him to jail for eight months. The magistrate, Douglas Chikwekwe, has since fled from his workplace and home. Police officials confirmed the incident, but said investigations were still in progress. They said they had not arrested anyone. The Zanu PF supporters were apparently unhappy with Chikwekwe's decision to convict one of their colleagues for robbery. They called the conviction and sentence a "miscarriage of justice". The militants descended on Chikwekwe's home over the weekend, breaking his windows and destroying his furniture. Chikwekwe escaped the attack with minor bruises, but fled the area. The magistrate became the latest victim of Zanu PF's terror campaign in Gokwe, one of the areas worst affected by Zimbabwe's political violence. Scores of teachers have reportedly fled the town after ruling party militants descended on schools, assaulting the teachers they accuse of working for the opposition. Pictures of badly assaulted opposition supporters recently appeared in the Daily News, Zimbabwe's only independent daily. The newspaper said the ruling party had established bases in the area where opposition-supporting villagers were being tortured at night.

From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 13 November

Budget boost for Zim secret service

The government’s spending figures have been receive with scepticism

Zimbabwe's feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has been allocated a massive 142,6% increase in its budget as the country prepares for presidential elections. The money was, as always, shrouded in secrecy under the heading "special services" and its use may not be questioned in Parliament or scrutinised by government auditors. The CIO, accused by human rights groups of working closely with Zanu PF war veterans in the campaign of terror against suspected government opponents, was allocated Z$1,2-billion in last year's budget vote, but will receive Z$3-billion as President Robert Mugabe seeks a further six-year term of office after 22 years in power. War veterans, who have become a ruling party militia, are to be funded through the Ministry of Defence and receive Z$429-million.

"It is interesting to see what budget votes are keeping ahead of the 80% rate of inflation," said a European Union diplomat after inspecting the long-delayed "Blue Book" of annual government spending estimates. The "Blue Book" - the compilation of figures and statistics on which the budget is based - was supposed to be tabled in Parliament in advance of Finance Minister Simba Makoni's November 1 budget, but was released a week later. State spending figures are viewed with enormous scepticism by both the local financial sector and international aid donors, partly because of the complete failure of the government to stay within past spending ceilings, and partly because of the dual "official" and "parallel" (black market) exchange rates. For example, the new Z$90 000-a-year income tax threshold is equivalent to R15 000 officially, but is a mere R3 000 in real terms. This makes Zimbabweans among the highest taxed people in the world.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank froze aid to the country two years ago because of Zimbabwe's chronic lack of financial discipline, including secret spending on Mugabe's military adventure in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government this year managed to bring the budget deficit down to 12% of gross domestic product by not paying foreign creditors US$682-million in debt arrears, and looting local savings and pensions by holding interest rates down to a fraction of the rate of investment. Many elderly people now face destitution. A banker described as "disingenuous" Makoni's claim that interest rates of 15% in an economy where inflation topped 86% was designed to "stimulate productivity and exports". He agreed, however, with Makoni's claim the low interest rates had "financed unproductive consumption and speculative behaviour".

Makoni estimated the economy would contract 7,1% in 2001 and shrink by almost the same amount next year with agriculture, tourism and manufacturing continuing to implode. Yet defence spending was more than doubled to Z$34,4-billion - despite the ceasefire in Congo, where Zimbabwe last year had 14 000 troops deployed. Makoni’s figures are also based on donors providing Z$3,2-billion for aid projects including Z$1,3-billion to help Mugabe's "fast track land resettlement". But donors have rejected the idea of funding land reform while war veterans continue to rampage. Only Z$4-billion is provided for compensating whites evicted from the 5 000 farms listed for takeover - which works out to R26 600 a farm. About Z$2-billion was provided for black empowerment, in an attempt to revive collapsing companies.

Makoni admitted that 75% of Zimbabweans are living below the breadline in "abject poverty", desperately needing food aid to make up for deficiencies in coming harvests. However, questioned whether the government had brought this on itself, Makoni replied: "I wouldn't want to be drawn into arguing why we are where we are - the bottom line is that we are where we are." He admitted the mass exodus of Zimbabweans, blacks as well as whites, was now hitting the economy. "High levels of emigration by locals in pursuit of greener pastures beyond our borders is now a cause for serious concern. This is robbing the country of skilled personnel." The budget estimates reveal a massive increase - from Z$24-million to Z$115-million - in the allocation to the electoral supervisory commission.
Back to the Top
Back to Index