S
Stephen Jay Morris
Guest
Yup........When Leftist Jungle-Bunnies take over a Country, they
DESTROY IT........Ain't It AMAZING?...........
"Zimbabwe Threatens White Farmers
By Associated Press
February 5, 2007, 8:25 PM EST
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Zimbabwe's national security minister
has told the country's last remaining white farmers that they will be
jailed if they refuse to abide by a deadline that passed over the
weekend for them to leave their farms, according to a newspaper report
on Monday.
The official Chronicle newspaper quoted the minister Didymus Mutasa as
saying police would be "unleashed" to deal with white farmers who
ignored the eviction notice.
"Those farmers who do not comply with the orders to vacate the land
will be dealt with severely," said the minister, known to be close to
President Robert Mugabe. The deadline was on Saturday.
Farming officials said there were no immediate reports of arrests but
they feared the worst.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence,
with acute shortages of hard currency, food, gasoline, medicines and
essential imports. The meltdown is blamed largely on disruptions to
the agriculture-based economy after the often violent seizures of
thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000.
Annual inflation is running at more than 1,000 percent, the highest in
the world.
The U.S. State Department last year put Zimbabwe on a list of six
countries where restrictions on rights were particularly severe, along
with China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.
There were around 4,500 white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe in 2000,
when Mugabe launched the program of land seizures that has seen
agricultural production plummet. Now only around 400 white farmers
remain -- and at least 150 of them were handed eviction letters in
December giving them just 45 days to leave their land to make way for
new black farmers.
Mugabe says land reform was necessary to correct colonial-era
imbalances in ownership. The longtime Zimbabwean leader blames the
more-than-40-percent drop in production on repeated drought and
Western sanctions.
Once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe has seen
its status reduced to an importer of its staple maize crop since land
reforms were launched.
Critics say many of the new black farmers were allocated farms on the
basis of political patronage rather than agricultural expertise, and
lack the dedication and financial resources to make a success of
farming.
The chairman of farming lobby group Justice for Agriculture, John
Worsley-Worswick, said that white farmers were feeling "very exposed
and very vulnerable."
Farming groups like the Commercial Farmers Union and Justice for
Agriculture had told their members to stay on their land and risk
arrest.
"There's ongoing pressure," Worsley-Worswick said by telephone from
Harare. "We are expecting arrests as farmers go back today."
Mutasa said security officials would check this week on white
farmers.
"It's the duty of police to see to it that those who don't abide by
the laws are incarcerated," the minister was quoted as saying by the
Bulawayo based newspaper.
Farmers were given a glimmer of hope last month when Ngoni Masoka, a
senior official from the Lands Ministry, said they would be allowed to
stay on to harvest crops they had planted "without any disruption in
that process."
U.N. agencies estimate that about 4 million people are in need of food
aid in Zimbabwe.
Last year, some 700,000 people lost their homes or livelihoods in a
government demolition campaign aimed at street vendors, market stall
holders and allegedly illegal housing. "
DESTROY IT........Ain't It AMAZING?...........
"Zimbabwe Threatens White Farmers
By Associated Press
February 5, 2007, 8:25 PM EST
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Zimbabwe's national security minister
has told the country's last remaining white farmers that they will be
jailed if they refuse to abide by a deadline that passed over the
weekend for them to leave their farms, according to a newspaper report
on Monday.
The official Chronicle newspaper quoted the minister Didymus Mutasa as
saying police would be "unleashed" to deal with white farmers who
ignored the eviction notice.
"Those farmers who do not comply with the orders to vacate the land
will be dealt with severely," said the minister, known to be close to
President Robert Mugabe. The deadline was on Saturday.
Farming officials said there were no immediate reports of arrests but
they feared the worst.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence,
with acute shortages of hard currency, food, gasoline, medicines and
essential imports. The meltdown is blamed largely on disruptions to
the agriculture-based economy after the often violent seizures of
thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000.
Annual inflation is running at more than 1,000 percent, the highest in
the world.
The U.S. State Department last year put Zimbabwe on a list of six
countries where restrictions on rights were particularly severe, along
with China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.
There were around 4,500 white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe in 2000,
when Mugabe launched the program of land seizures that has seen
agricultural production plummet. Now only around 400 white farmers
remain -- and at least 150 of them were handed eviction letters in
December giving them just 45 days to leave their land to make way for
new black farmers.
Mugabe says land reform was necessary to correct colonial-era
imbalances in ownership. The longtime Zimbabwean leader blames the
more-than-40-percent drop in production on repeated drought and
Western sanctions.
Once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe has seen
its status reduced to an importer of its staple maize crop since land
reforms were launched.
Critics say many of the new black farmers were allocated farms on the
basis of political patronage rather than agricultural expertise, and
lack the dedication and financial resources to make a success of
farming.
The chairman of farming lobby group Justice for Agriculture, John
Worsley-Worswick, said that white farmers were feeling "very exposed
and very vulnerable."
Farming groups like the Commercial Farmers Union and Justice for
Agriculture had told their members to stay on their land and risk
arrest.
"There's ongoing pressure," Worsley-Worswick said by telephone from
Harare. "We are expecting arrests as farmers go back today."
Mutasa said security officials would check this week on white
farmers.
"It's the duty of police to see to it that those who don't abide by
the laws are incarcerated," the minister was quoted as saying by the
Bulawayo based newspaper.
Farmers were given a glimmer of hope last month when Ngoni Masoka, a
senior official from the Lands Ministry, said they would be allowed to
stay on to harvest crops they had planted "without any disruption in
that process."
U.N. agencies estimate that about 4 million people are in need of food
aid in Zimbabwe.
Last year, some 700,000 people lost their homes or livelihoods in a
government demolition campaign aimed at street vendors, market stall
holders and allegedly illegal housing. "
