The Herald (Harare) Published by the government of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: President Scoffs At Land Appeals

Harare — FORMER commercial farmers can appeal to any court -- regional or international -- but they will never reverse land reform, President Mugabe said yesterday.

Addressing hundreds of mourners at the burial of liberation war hero Cde Reward Marufu, the President said efforts by some white farmers to use the improperly constituted Sadc Tribunal would not yield any results as long as Zimbabweans remained united in defence of the country's sovereignty and hard earned independence.

Cde Marufu, who was First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe's brother, was yesterday buried at Madondo Village in Chivhu with full military honours.

President Mugabe urged Zimba-bweans to be united in defence of the country's heritage and natural resources.

"Pakati pedu tosungirwa kuti tive vanhu vasina bopoto. Nekuti vamwe vanoti kwete, varungu ngavarambe varimuno, vakabata. Kwete isu tinoti kana vanoda kugara muno, vanoda zvemabizinesi ngavauye, varipo kare ngavagare asi vazive kuti zvinhu zva- chinja. Ivhu rava redu.

"Kana takupawo kuti apa rima ndopatakupawo. Kwete kunyunyuta! Wakumhanya zvino kuti ndazowana tribunal iye yekuNamibia, ndokwataku-mhanyira. Tribunal yaani?

"Inono mhan'arira Zimbabwe. Ine nyika yayo. Inova nyika isiri yayo, isineyi zvayo nedzimwe nyika. Waakuda kutora nyaya kuisako. Dziri nyaya dzeyi? Dzevhu. Dziri nyaya dzekuti imi nezuro makurira vatema muno. Matora ivhu, mapamba nyika. Magovana ivhu. Vatema vazozivavo, vakukukurirai, vatora nyika yavo. Yava mumaoko avo.

Makuvapa mhosva yekuti mazotorerei nyika yatanga takutorererayi. Makunotimhan'arira uko. Mhan'arai tione kuti zvinoshanda here!"

He said: "They can go to any part of the world asi hazvishande nekuti nyika ndeyedu. Saka isu ngatirambe takabatana muno munyika!"

President Mugabe urged traditional leaders to ensure that the gains of the liberation struggle were safeguarded.

He warned some farmers against being used by former commercial farmers as they risked losing the land to the State.

"Kana usingakwanise kuririma dzo- rera kwatiri tiripe vanokwanisa kuri- rima. Nekuti chokwadi tikazviziva kuti ndizvo zvauri kuita chokwadi tinoritora. Hatidi vanozochema zvakare kuti hurumende yavakutitorera ivhu nekuti kana ivhu riri mumaoko evanhu vanoda kuri- dzorera kuvarungu. Riri mumaoko evanhu vasati vabva mupfungwa yekuti vana bhasi.

"Isu tiri kuti iwe ndiwe wava bhasi. Kohubhasi hahuhudewo? Unongoda ganda jena chete? Nenzeve ndefu chete? Kwete!"

President Mugabe said Cde Marufu belonged to a rare crop of freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the country.

He said Zimbabweans should work hard to defend the gains of the liberation struggle in honour of people like Cde Marufu, who suffered from the effect of the war.

National Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi hailed Cde Marufu for being an "intelligence officer par excellence".

"The field of intelligence was his forte and indeed he made his mark in this discipline.

"In the world of intelligence, one never retires, hence, although he was said to have retired, he remained one of us. That is why today we are overwhelmed by this great loss."

Chief Musarurwa, who was representing the area's traditional leadership, expressed his gratitude for the respect accorded to one of their sons.

"If only we could learn from people like Cde Marufu, being unwavering and straight, we would succeed as a country."

He hailed Cde Marufu as a humble but principled man who worked for the independence of the country and its development.

Cde Marufu (54) died on Wednesday last week at Leopards' Vlei Farm near Bindura after battling with hypertension for some years.

He is survived by his wife Debra and five children.


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Comments 1 to 5 of 10 Post a comment

  • gore
    Aug 30 2010, 08:59

    One thing the pres failed to tell the people is that Major Marufu was, according to his compensation claim, 95% disabled and had been paid Z$821 668. Amazingly he continued to work tirelessly as an Intelligence officer despite being a cabbage who only had use of 5% of his body;

  • gégène
    Aug 30 2010, 09:46

    ZanuFP thugs refuse to obey the court.

    And now they are saying that sanctions placed on them are illegal?

    Their logic baffles me.

  • George Warren
    Aug 30 2010, 10:07

    major maufe is a lot like Bob in a way, in fact he is, reminds of a joke i heard some time back, It's about and Englishman, American and a Zimbabwean. well it's like this. The englishman says, :- we have a guy back in the UK who has one arm and one leg and runs for 5 miles everyday, oh that's nothin' says the yank, we have a guy back in the USA who has two bionic arms and two bionic legs and he runs for 50 miles through the snow everyday, That's absolutely nothing says the Zimbo,We have a guy back in Zim with no brain and he runs the country. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

  • Chinyemba_Gza
    Aug 31 2010, 07:12

    Gegene

    The ZANU "thugs" are correct and justified when they say the country is under illegal sanctions. Why do i say that?It's because,the country IS under illegal ruinous economic sanctions! Have you read the ZIDERA?

    Zimbabweans did NOT FLEE Zimbabwe. They just moved to places where the economies were much more stable. Fleeing is when one takes off without the intention of coming back. Zimbabweans did NOT flee,we simply "temporarily moved out with the intentions of coming back".Besides,Mugabe educated us in such a way that we'd be able to get a job in ANY country so WHY NOT move out of the country to make extra moola? Fleeing is what white Zimbabwean farmers did! Fleeing is what boers are doing in South Africa! Many boers have ran away to countries like UK and Australia.

    You can say all the crap you want about Mugabe but you CANNOT deny the influence of the man! The authority and respect that he commands. The Zimbabwe election is the s

  • chokora
    Aug 30 2010, 10:52

    "Mugabe Snubs Regional Court Over Seized Farms .."

    This header does NOT reflect thetone of the article as written.

    Should that phrase be, in long form, "Mugabe Restates the Peoples' Stand Over Reclaimed Farms"?

    Are your headers edited by plundering "commercial" (colonial) UK land-grabbers - or their vile offspring?

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