As Zimbabwean police continue to arrest farmers, two senior US officials have called for the removal of President Robert Mugabe, whom they accuse of ”madness”.
In addition to imperilling the lives of Zimbabweans, Mugabe also stole presidential elections earlier this year, destroying his credibility and legitimacy as a democratic leader, the officials told reporters.
”The political status quo is unacceptable,” said Walter Kansteiner, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
”We do not see President Mugabe as the democratically legitimate leader of the country,” he said. ”The election was fraudulent and it was not free and it was not fair.”
”So we’re working with others … on how we can in fact together encourage the body politic of Zimbabwe to in fact go forward and correct that situation and start providing an environment that would lead to a free and fair election,” Kansteiner said.
He said the United States was working with opposition elements within Zimbabwe as well as with the country’s neighbours and the European Union to further isolate the Mugabe regime.
Washington is contemplating a toughening of sanctions against Mugabe and his top officials, which now include a travel ban and freezing of assets, to impress upon them their ”pariah” status, Kansteiner said.
Meanwhile, police have arrested 215 whites for attempting to defy eviction orders while one farmer at Karoi, 300 kilometres north west of the capital, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly attempting to drive his vehicle at four policemen.
The incident is the first in which a farmer is accused of violently resisting Mugabe’s ”fast track land reform”, aiming to transfer 5 000 properties to 350 000 black Zimbabweans before the end of August.
A police representative alleged Ian Barker drove at high speed and tried to crash into the vehicle carrying four policemen arriving to arrest him for not quitting his property by the August 9 deadline given 2 900 whites.
He was freed on Tuesday on $40 bail after appearing before a local magistrate on four counts of attempted murder.
Police reported that hundreds of farmers have ”gone on the run” – evading details trying to enforce seizure and eviction orders.
A representative, Sergeant Lovemore Sibanda, said: ”The farmers we are looking for are those who vacated their farms, leaving behind their wives and children. Others left the doors of their farmhouses locked, with all the property inside, hoping to return later.”
In addition to the 2 900 given the August 9 deadline, 2 000 others have orders to quit, regardless of court judgments declaring the notices invalid and unconstitutional.
Mugabe’s ministers have appealed to land recipients to move onto their plots immediately and prepare for rains due in November, in order to alleviate the dire food crisis.
His government says 7,8-million people are in danger of starvation before the next harvests can be expected in March-April. Deputy Environment Minister Margaret Sangarwe said the Zimbabwean Government delegation planned to make its stance on the land situation take centre stage at the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
She told the Herald the official delegation would explain the government’s position on equitable distribution of resources and empowerment of indigenous people to reduce poverty and starvation. – Sapa-DPA, Sapa-AFP