ZimbabweOs political and economic stability is in danger as President Robert Mugabe pushes ahead with plans to expropriate white-owned land Chris McGreal in Harare Zimbabwe is mobilising its army to rapidly resettle several million black peasants on expropriated farms after a government announcement that it will now seize about two-thirds of all white-owned land. And any doubts about the seriousness of President Robert MugabeOs intentions in the wake of his meeting with President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday were ruled out after a thundering speech by Mugabe in which he lashed out at Britain for criticising his policies and said Othe land belongs to Zimbabweans. It is their land and they are prepared to die for it if need be.O While Mugabe was meeting Mbeki, war veterans occupied another farm within an hour of Harare. Farmer Duncan Parks of the farm Mazawe, his wife, his son and 17 other farmers were held hostage by the veterans over Wednesday night and had fled the farm by noon on Thursday.
Veterans leader Chengarai OHitlerOHunzvi, who visited the farm and urged the veterans to stay put, said:OWe need this land and it is going to be resettled.O Mugabe confirmed on Thursday that the government was preparing to expropriate 3 041 predominantly white farms, heading the country towards a major showdown with white farmers and the political opposition. The governmentOs plan follows the nation- wide general strike on Wednesday backed by trade unions, the main opposition party and white farmers to protest at the handling of land redistribution and the policeOs failure to respond to growing political violence. The strike shut down all of ZimbabweOs major cities where there is growing anger at President Robert MugabeOs heavy-handed response to the surge in opposition support in JuneOs parliamentary election and disillusionment at the economic consequences of the governmentOs confrontational policies. Long petrol queues have re-emerged since the election, agriculture and tourism are facing collapse and major power cuts are looming. A further sign of the worsening crisis came with the governmentOs belated devolution of the Zimbabwean dollar by one-third a move it has been under pressure from business people n to take but resisted before the election because it will push up inflation, already running at 59%. In a move that dashed budding hopes of compromise, Vice-President Joseph Msika confirmed the government will dramatically increase the number of farms targeted for confiscation without compensation from the original 804 earmarked in May. It is seizing farms under new legislation that demands that Britain pay the affected farmers on the grounds they are of British descent.
Just a few days ago, Zimbabweans were debating whether Mugabe will run for another term as president in two years or step aside for a younger candidate in the hope of reviving Zanu-PFOs popularity. Now the debate is over whether ZimbabweOs economy can survive MugabeOs rule, however short it might be. The original core of a few dozen white farmers went on strike last month in protest at the continued occupation of their land by Owar veteransO, despite court orders for the squatters to leave the farms, and escalating violence. Even the government said the occupations should stop in favour of a more orderly distribution. Dozens of other farmers across the country joined the protest, and launched an e-mail, fax and leaflet campaign to gather support for a nationwide general strike. The call struck a chord with ordinary Zimbabweans, which forced the hand of the unions and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). They were not only bound to support the strike but had to be seen to organise it. The Commerical FarmersO Union (CFU) threw its weight behind the strike led by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to protest at what the governmentOs opponents say is the illegal handling of the land confiscations and an upsurge in political violence.
But the union appeared to lose its nerve and scaled back what was to have been a three-day strike to just 24 hours despite the powerful backing of the MDC, which came close to beating the ruling party in JuneOs parliamentary elections. The union said it did not want to do further damage to the economy.
OWe want to give the government time to respond. If the government does not respond, we will go on a much longer strike,O said Nicholas Mudzengerere, acting secretary general. OWe have taken this decision because we want to use the strike as a warning shot and we think one day would be adequate.O The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, urged all Zimbabweans to support the strike and accused Mugabe of pursuing a political vendetta against opposition supporters. OThere is no need to pursue political vendettas in a manner that destroys the social and economic fabric. There is no need for suicidal policies just because things did not go well for him during the elections,O he said. But the evident role of whites in promoting the protest further angered Mugabe, who has already derided them as foreigners and colonialists. His government hit back by quadrupling the number of farms facing confiscation and saying that expropriations will be completed within weeks. The earmarked farms account for about two- thirds of white-owned land in Zimbabwe. While the farm seizures might strengthen MugabeOs political control in the short term and dispel any illusions that he was crippled by the oppositionOs surge in support in JuneOs parliamentary election ultimately they look to spell disaster for his countryOs economy and further damage the government. The earmarked land produces a good proportion of the countryOs agricultural exports. Tobacco earned Zimbabwe about 250-million last year but revenues are expected to drop by at least one-fifth this year. Manufacturers are warning of large- scale redundancies. Already there is talk of a looming food shortage. The deputy director of the CFU, Jerry Grant, said the plan to seize the additional white land will ruin agriculture, the main source of ZimbabweOs foreign earnings which have already fallen sharply. OThis is a recipe for absolute economic disaster. This is not just the farmersO future at stake now, it is ZimbabweOs. This is the end of the line,O he said. The Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo, said that ZimbabweOs 40 000-strong army will provide transport and other logistics for the massive movement of people on to the confiscated farms. OIt has the vehicles needed to move people from one point to the other. It will also establish a communications centre to ensure decisions are made fast and are implemented,O he told the state-run Herald newspaper.
There are strong doubts about the armyOs ability to mount such an operation, particularly with so many of its resources tied up in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But it would only take soldiers to force the owners off a few dozen farms at gunpoint and move on black families for many white landowners to give up any last hope of clinging to their land. Earlier this week, the CFU, which represents most of ZimbabweOs more than 4 000 white farmers, noted that soldiers had been spotted visiting farms, particularly in Mashonaland where a higher proportion of land has been earmarked for confiscation. OAt this stage, this seems to be little more than an intelligence-gathering operation,O the union said. Whether there are 500 000 families who want to move, as the government says, is another matter. Not many city dwellers are interested in trying to scrape a living on the land, particularly as much of it is not productive.
While Zimbabwean farms are large with the 3 000 earmarked for redistribution covering about 4,8-million hectares much of the land is poor quality or barren. Farmers have been forced to limit production to a proportion of their land or invest heavily in irrigation. But if the farms are subdivided into hundreds of thousands of small plots, someone is going to be left with the scraps and they are not likely to be able to afford to run expensive equipment. Mugabe is likely to face legal challenges to his plan to seize so much land so fast. Although the recent changes to the Constitution permit the confiscation of farms without compensation, there is still an established process of notification and appeal to be followed. The government has already completed it for the original 804 farms earmarked in May for takeover but if, as it says, it wants to seize the additional land before the rains in a few weeks it will have to ride roughshod over its own regulations and defy the courts.
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