Posted on 08/09/2002 12:12:06 PM PDT by Clive
Some of Zimbabwe's commercial farmers have defied the government's acquisition orders to vacate their properties following the expiry of their deadline by midnight yesterday. Colin Cloete, the President of the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), is said to be one of those who have decided to remain on their properties.
The majority of farmers are, however, now leaving for neighbouring countries to continue with their operations.
There are fears that there could be an escalation of violence on the farms with liberation war veterans ordering farmers off their properties. The CFU has described the situation on the farm as tense and unpredictable and Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwe's Minister of Justice, has told the SABC that they will acquire farms served with notices, including those that were mortgaged to banks. He warned that farmers who defied the law would face the consequences.
Most farmers are now reluctant to talk to the media. Some say they have had enough and it is time to leave. They leave their agricultural equipment and harvesters are and now going away for a song. Chris Nicole, who has decided to stay on his farm, was ordered to vacate his property by the government. He, however, feels justice through the courts will come. Nicole has since stopped his farming operations. He says he has restored to repairing old equipment for other farmers in the area.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's resettled farmers are yet to take up their pieces of land in Blanket due to lack of a strong financial backing. In Banket a number of plots belonging to resettled farmers were lying idle. Nothing tangible has come out of some of the lands, which could produce thousands of tonnes of wheat a year, ever since resettled farmers took over. The reason being that most of them do not have enough money to kick-start their farming operations. Banks are reluctant to give resettled farmers loans without tittle deeds.
At the same time Justice for Agriculture, a farmers pressure group, has raised concerns over the arrest of Reverend Tim Neil by the police following a multi-billion lawsuit against the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Don't send them so much as a single "Mini-Moo" of non-dairy coffee creamer.
... But count on them getting $15 billion in US aid anyway.
I better get crackin'.
If that doesn’t work, there’s a simple fall back position; They can just turn to the dominant African industry- beggary. NePAD is all about rattling the tin cup. “Where my money is, whitey?”
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Mr. Nicole may end up as fertilizer in his own field; there is no rule of law in Zim. It is a classic Marxist tyranny. I wonder just what the outcome will be. Part of it will be another once-nice country turned into another welfare state, a ward of the UN and the US tax dollar.
Zim is landlocked and surrounded by states that would resent mercs or their logistics crossing their territory.
Logistics is impossible, the nearset port is 25km from the eastern border of Zim (Biera in Mozambique)
Mercs were used in Sierra Leone but they were hired by the government and Sierra Leone does not have the logistics problems that Zim would present.
The mercs were cutting a swath through the RUF insurgents until the UN intervened and forced an agreement brokered by Charles Taylor of Liberia and Jesse Jackson of the US that set up a "government of national reconciliation".
Mercs could deal quite handily with the Zanu PF cadre. They are thugs, trained ionly in thuggery, rape and murder. But Zim has just brought back 9,000 regular army from the DRC where they have had the benefit of a prolonged live fire exercise and 3,000 more are soon to join them.
As soon as mercs are detected moving in, especially mercs hired by whites, the whole of Africa would converge on them like white cells to an infection.
If there is to be an insurrection, it has to be one that is mounted by indigenous peoples, having an indigenous cadre and supported by African governments.
In fact, without the acquiescence of Mozambique and South Africa, it is simply not going to happen.
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