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Posted on 08/08/2002 4:14:26 PM PDT by Michael2001
HARARE (Reuters) - Thousands of white Zimbabwean farmers face a midnight deadline on Thursday to leave land they have farmed for generations or risk jail, although a last-minute High Court ruling could give them extra time.
The court ruled that a mortgaged farm could not be taken for resettlement by blacks if the state had not properly informed the mortgage lender. Farm officials said farmers were waiting to see how President Robert Mugabe would react to the decision.
Trucks laden with household goods drove into the capital Harare from surrounding farming districts on Thursday but farmers who declined to be identified said they might return to their homes next week if it seemed safe enough to do so.
Mugabe -- Zimbabwe's sole ruler since the former Rhodesia gained independence in 1980 -- says his land seizures are meant to right the wrongs of British colonialism, which left 70 percent of the best farmland in white hands.
In May, he passed a law giving 2,900 of the country's 4,500 white farmers 45 days to wind up operations and another 45 days -- ending at midnight (2200 GMT) on August 8 -- to quit their land and make way for black settlers. If they refuse, they face a fine and up to two years in prison.
In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, High Court Judge Charles Hungwe said the state could not confiscate land owned by Andrew Kockett because it had not informed the National Merchant Bank, which has a mortgage registered on the property.
"Farmers in the same situation as me -- which is I believe the majority -- in very few cases or in no cases has the bond holder been served with these notices," Kockett told South African radio on Thursday.
"Whether that automatically gives the other farmers cover I don't know." The ruling was made available to Reuters on Thursday.
NO COMMENT
Mugabe, who returned on Thursday from a trip to Asia, has not commented on the court ruling, leaving the issue unclear.
Remarks by Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni on Thursday also suggested there was still some uncertainty over whether farmers were being told to leave their land for good or whether they would be given back a portion of their property once the rest had been redistributed by government.
Makoni told reporters in South Africa that the estimate of affected farmers was grossly overstated and his understanding of the land program was that most could stay in their homes -- they just had to hand over some of their land.
Speaking after a meeting of Southern African ministers, he said there was no definite plan yet on how to compensate financial institutions for the money owed by commercial farmers whose land was earmarked for redistribution.
"There is no definite position on that at the moment...but there is no reason why new farmers can't inherit the debt. There is still a lot of work we need to do," he said.
Analysts say disruption to farming through the state-backed farm invasions has compounded both food shortages and a severe economic crisis blamed by many independent analysts on official mismanagement in a country that was once the region's breadbasket.
"Land reform is important but is secondary to feeding the country," the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said.
The official Herald newspaper said on Thursday that the High Court was expected to hear another appeal from a white farmer challenging the constitutionality of the Land Acquisition Act. No date has been set so far.
The European Union ( news - web sites) and the United States have imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his ruling elite over his land policy and after his controversial re-election as president in March, in a vote that Western powers say was rigged.
Mugabe insists he won fairly, and dismisses calls for a rerun as attempts to impose MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as leader of the southern African country.
A white Zimbabwean clergyman who has been outspoken in his criticism of the government's human rights record, said police picked him up on Thursday evening over his involvement with a newly formed farming rights group, Justice for Agriculture.
Timothy Neill told Reuters by telephone from a police station that he had not so far been charged but said: "They are questioning me over membership in a subversive group."
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Hopefully, Clive will weigh in between now and morning with his usual raft of similar posts, and I can add them to make a block of links, which will have more impact.
This was all so drearily predictable... my watchwords have become
"Pity about Africa..."
NOBODY should be President (King)(Absolut Ruler for Life)for twenty-two years; absolute power always corrupts motral man absolutely.
Isn't there some way we can facilitate, with a private charitable organization, the sponsoring of emigration to America of these people?
They're going to lose everything regardless - at least we could give them a chance to escape with their lives. Plus, *these* are *exactly* the type of immigrants we *need* in this country.
Also... May I suggest that people on this website start referring to this country by its proper name, Rhodesia?
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