The Zimbabwe Guardian (London)
7 April 2008
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe called for Zimbabweans to protect their land from whites amid reports that white commercial farmers had started flocking back into the country to try and reclaim lost farms.
"Land must remain in our hands. The land is ours, it must not be allowed to slip back into the hands of whites," President Mugabe told a crowd gathered at a funeral of his wife's uncle.
Mugabe said thousands of freedom fighters died during the liberation war in the 1970s. and that Zimbabweans "cannot afford to retreat in the battle for land."
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Zanu PF policies and those of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change were diametrically opposed and accused the party of seeking to reverse land reforms.
"The MDC claim they have won and they are unleashing former white farmers on farms occupied by new farmers to reverse the land reform programme.
Zimbabwe television reported that the southern city of Masvingo had seen a large influx of "white commercial farmers who are trickling back to reoccupy... land."
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