The renewed campaign against the country's remaining commercial farmers continued unabated on Friday with a fresh farm attack.
On Friday afternoon, Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth and his family came under siege by a group of roughly fifteen invaders, who arrived on their Mount Carmel farm and announced that the family had five minutes to leave the property. Freeth explained to SW Radio Africa that the head invader eventually left the property "to get more men to come help him", leaving about nine men to keep an eye on the family. Freeth explained that the head invader said he'd been sent my Nathan Shamuyarira, the ZANU PF spokesman, who has been intent on removing Freeth and his family off the farm. The family, who has previously been forced to flee their property under constant harassment, was left on Friday evening in a stand off with the remaining invaders.
Meanwhile it has emerged that Former Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa, and two of his relatives, are involved in the ongoing farm disruptions.
The allegations surfaced in a damning report by the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) submitted to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week, which highlights the fresh wave of farm attacks that has forced many farmers into hiding. More than 100 farmers are also facing prosecution on trumped up charges of occupying 'state land' illegally, while violent farm evictions have also intensified in recent weeks.
The CFU report accuses Mutasa of leading a Land Inspectorate Commission, which has been interfering with farming activities on targeted farms - the only productive farms left in a country crippled by food shortages.
The report reads: "What has become very evident from the reports coming in is that there is a very active group, which we understand is called the Land Inspectorate Commission, allegedly headed by the previous Minister of Lands (etc), Minister (Didymus) Mutasa, and assisted by two of his relatives, being the lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa and Temba Mliswa, who we believe holds the position of Secretary of Lands for Mashonaland West in the ZANU PF party."
The report also details the known involvement of Attorney General Johannes Tomana as well as a chief magistrate, senior police officials and officials from the Lands Ministry, who in February instructed local police and magistrates to 'fast track' the prosecution of the remaining farmers.
"It would appear that this is to make way for the immediate occupation by persons in favour of the ZANU PF party and many of these new beneficiaries are alleged to have been involved in the recent political violence," the CFU said in its report.
The CFU also urged the Prime Minister to issue a moratorium on the prosecution of white farmers, and called for the "immediate cessation of the violence in the productive farming sector."
Tsvangirai has since promised to deal with the farm disruptions, saying in a Press Conference on Wednesday that the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) had been tasked to deal with the issue. The pledge came barely a week after he condemned perpetrators of "acts of theft" using "fraudulent offer letters" to evict commercial farmers. He warned that those engaged in these activities would be brought to justice.
But doubt has been cast over how the Prime Minister plans to keep his word, as it is not the first time he has condemned the attacks - condemnation that has not seen any action. At the same time, many police officials and judicial members, who should be handing out justice over the land issue, are themselves beneficiaries of the land grab, and will be unlikely to change allegiance at the request of Tsvangirai.
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The policy of the GNU is clear: all illegally acquired farms by "commercial farmers" are subject to legal seizure, legal forfeiture.
Redress is amply and unequivocally delineated in the document that created the GNU.
Of course, Sensational West Rubbish would rather publish incendiary trash than the dry language that provides recourse to illegal commercial farmers.
Make no mistake white minority farmers can be killed any time any day. They are at the mercy of Tsvangirai in the GNU, who is prime minister. This is a stern warming to a few misguided white anglos who think they can fight GNU. If you destroy GNU through your 10,000 mile away propaganda machine, you may as well Kiss goodbye to protection from Robert Mugabe. You will become dog meat for dogs guiding prisons in Zimbabwe. It is in your interest to have the GNU work. Rather than work against GNU, support it.
Phiri - would you agree with me that whilst the GNU is an imperfect creation, that is meant to last two years before fresh elections are called; for the sake of Zimbabwe, we should all hope that it does work until genuinely free and fair elections can be held in a depressurised atmosphere of some tolerance and some goodwill?
Would you further agree with me that the key to the survival of the GNU is its ability to turn around the economy or at least slow its accelerating decline? Accordingly, the recently promulgated Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (Sterp) signed into law by Mugabe last month is the single most important policy platform of the GNU.Agreed?
Here is an extract from the Sterp: "In order to promote confidence, investments and other developments on farms, as well as ensuring security of farming operations, the inclusive government will uphold the rule of law as well as enforce law and order on farms including arresting any further farm invasions which disrupt farming activities,"
It follows the the primary threat to the Sterp is the inability of the country to promote the necessary confidence, investments etc. If the Sterp is threatened, the GNU is threatned. Agreed?
Well the threat to the Sterp is not your dreaded anglo propagandists from 10,000 miles away. It is much, much closer to home in the likes of Didymus Mutasa and his like. Focus your ire there if you truly want to see the GNU succeed. You are in danger of killing the messenger because you don't like the message or more likely because you don't like him or her.The enemies of a happy and prosperous Zimbabwe are not overseas.
Katz, I have said many times on this blog that the GNU is an imperfect creation and marrigae. For me and many others, I would have rather wished Tsvangirai had declined and become the most powerful oppossition leader in Zimbabwe. But, Tsvangirai was being pulled in all direction and to some extent he believes in GNU. Because all political parties in Zimbabwe have said yes to GNU, I too now support it.
What I object is the commentaries coming out of the UK and the small white community in SADC. People in SADC have all the right to form what ever union the deem acceptable to the people. Many " Rhodes" on this blog have been very disrespective of what the region stand for and what GNU is all about. I still stand by my comment that if the GNU goes, so do white farmers, therefore they too should either support it or get out of Zimbabwe. There are a whole lot of powerful people in Zimbabwe who will fight against white farmers. It is in their best interest to stop playing the heavy handedness of being an "anglo".
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