Go now, Mugabe tells white farmers

FriendlyFire

FriendlyFire

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Go now, Mugabe tells white farmers

CHINHOYI: The Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, has said that land seizures will continue, and the country's last white farmers should leave.

Mr Mugabe was addressing supporters on Saturday at a celebration marking his 85th birthday in Chinhoyi, 100 kilometres north-west of Harare.

"Land distribution will continue. It will not stop," Mr Mugabe said. "The few remaining white farmers should quickly vacate their farms as they have no place there."

The party, which reportedly cost about $US250,000 ($390,000) - modest by Mr Mugabe's standards - was held as Zimbabwe's new unity government failed to secure financial aid to rescue the collapsed economy.

Zimbabwe faces the world's highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 4000 people since August.

Mr Mugabe, who turned 85 on February 21, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. He was recently forced to enter a coalition government with his longtime rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, who was made prime minister.

Mr Tsvangirai was a conspicuous no-show at Mr Mugabe's celebrations. Last week he said he would attend in the spirit of national unity. However, a spokesman said on Saturday that Mr Tsvangirai had decided not to attend as he considered the event a "private" affair of Mr Mugabe's party.

The early weeks of power-sharing have not been smooth. There have been squabbles over cabinet positions and the continued arrest of opposition political activists.

"I am still in control and hold executive authority, so nothing much has changed," Mr Mugabe told a crowd of about 2000.

There has been a recent surge in reported "invasions" of white-owned farms, with one support group saying at least 40 white farmers have been forced off their land since January.

Last year, a regional court ruled that 78 white Zimbabweans could keep their farms, saying the Government's land grab policy was racially motivated.

On Saturday, Mr Mugabe called the ruling "nonsense" and said it was of "no consequence". "We have our own laws which govern our own land issues," he said.

Critics blame Zimbabwe's economic collapse on Mr Mugabe seizure of white-owned farms, which were then given to his cronies instead of impoverished blacks as promised.

Many have criticised Mr Mugabe for having lavish birthday celebrations while his beleaguered people die from disease and hunger. One in 10 Zimbabwean children will die before their fifth birthday and most of their mothers will not even live to half Mr Mugabe's age, the charity Save The Children said last month.

A smiling Mr Mugabe was greeted by cheers and shouts of "Long live our president" as he arrived at the town's university hall on Saturday.

Dressed in a suit and red scarf, he released a bunch of balloons into the air and joked with young schoolchildren as he posed for photographers.

On Friday, the coalition government failed to secure $US2 billion for an economic rescue package from regional nations. A regional heads of state meeting will discuss proposals submitted by Zimbabwe, but it set no date and made no funding commitments.

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, who belongs to Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, attended the ministerial meeting in Cape Town and asked for $US2 billion - half for emergency spending on schools, health care and infrastructure, and the rest on economic revival measures.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/go-now-mugabe-tells-white-farmers-20090301-8lii.html
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Well Zimbabwe is now rank 198/198 poorest country GDP per capita.
Its amazing that this government hasnt imploded yet.
 
Why I always have the feeling that if they were not white, the "international community" would be much more "outraged"?
 
Eh. If I were one of those white farmers, I'd buy a plane ticket right after salting the earth. But... redistributing lands to Mugabe's army and his voters to solidify his power is definitely not going to solve that country's problems.

I also have no idea why the international community isn't as enflamed about this as for the rest of the stuff. I'm pretty sure it's violating some sort of U.N. non-binding resolution as well. Maybe it's just an assumption on people's part that White farmers in Zimbabwe are rich and racist or something. Or perhaps it's just not being mentioned because of the "overload" from the already baffeling lack of government competence in the country. Or both, or for another reason. Who really knows.
 
Winner said:
Why I always have the feeling that if they were not white, the "international community" would be much more "outraged"?
Click to expand...

I think it's the opposite actually. How much press is give when an African's land is overrun by other Africans?
 
QuoVadisNation said:
Eh. If I were one of those white farmers, I'd buy a plane ticket right after salting the earth. But... redistributing lands to Mugabe's army and his voters to solidify his power is definitely not going to solve that country's problems.

I also have no idea why the international community isn't as enflamed about this as for the rest of the stuff. I'm pretty sure it's violating some sort of U.N. non-binding resolution as well. Maybe it's just an assumption on people's part that White farmers in Zimbabwe are rich and racist or something. Or perhaps it's just not being mentioned because of the "overload" from the already baffeling lack of government competence in the country. Or both, or for another reason. Who really knows.
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No, Ian Douglas failed, no more exercise for White farmers in Zimbabwe, one of the richest farm land in southern part of Africa.
 
Salt the earth, burn all equipment and run away. Unless insurance pays out for farm repossession.
 
Free Rhodesia!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
plarq said:
Ian Douglas told us so.
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Ian Smith. Douglas was his middle name. :D

But yeah, it's pretty funny given that there was the "power-sharing" agreement. Also, a couple years ago, Mugabe pleaded for the white farmers to come back... is it no surprise that none of them took up the offer? :lol:
 
amadeus said:
Ian Smith. Douglas was his middle name. :D

But yeah, it's pretty funny given that there was the "power-sharing" agreement. Also, a couple years ago, Mugabe pleaded for the white farmers to come back... is it no surprise that none of them took up the offer? :lol:
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It was a tri-party agreement, but it ends up as ugly as other dictatorships. No check, no balance, and no anything, and Mr Mugabe might take refuge in China if he was overthrown.
 
azzaman333 said:
I think he's deliberately making things worse now.
Click to expand...
:dunno: Got to get in the history books somehow. Craziest African leader, perhaps? Still got a way to go to catch Idi Amin.
 
FriendlyFire said:
Well Zimbabwe is now rank 198/198 poorest country GDP per capita.
Click to expand...

Even below Somalia?

Wow, thing's would have to be pretty bad if you're less wealthy than Somalia.
 
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