OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday 2.00pm.
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe issued a sharp warning to whites on Wednesday that war veterans occupying their farms are there to stay, as he launched the election manifesto of his ruling Zanu-PF party.
He has also declared that his government wants to seize half of the country’s white-owned farmland. The land issue has erupted in the past two months to claim more than a dozen lives in bloodshed. Those whites who do not like this are free to leave the country, he said.
Mugabe did not give any hint on the much-awaited general election date. “Let nobody think we will call on the war veterans to withdraw unless we obtain our land,” he said.
Although his government does not have plans to kick out any whites, he added, Britain is preparing to evacuate some 20000 nationals from the country. Those willing to go were free to do so if they are not comfortable with the land reform process, he said.
“The 20000 that the British want to leave the country are free to leave and we will assist them by showing them the various ways out of the country.”
He said while some 4000 whites owned some 12,2-million hectares of land with 70% of Zimbabwean landless, all that his government wants is just half of that farmland.
“We will still be humanitarian, we want just about half of the 12-million hectares to come our way,” he said. He said his government will not acquire land from farmers owning only one property.
Mugabe launched the manifesto under the theme “land is the economy, the economy is land” before a crowd of singing and dancing Zanu-PF supporters at a conference centre in Harare.
Mugabe chaired a weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the land crisis was discussed and the date for the parliamentary poll was expected to be fixed.
A presidential spokesman said the launch of the manifesto would be followed by a meeting of the ruling party’s decision-making politburo. — AFP