Posted on 09/07/2002 4:13:29 AM PDT by Clive
Embattled white Zimbabwe farmers have been given a new ultimatum to leave their land or face arrest, a farmers' pressure group, Justice for Agriculture (JAG), said today. "Hundreds of commercial farmers countrywide have been given until noon on Sunday 8 September 2002 to vacate their farms," Jag said.
The new ultimatum comes nearly a month after a one under which the government ordered 2900 farmers to leave their land by 8 August under President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reform programme to make way for landless black settlers.
"JAG has received numerous reports from farmers in Matabeleland, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central who have been ordered to remove all their equipment, belongings and themselves from their farms by midday Sunday or face arrest."
Around 60% of farmers affected by last month's deadline refused to leave their farms and more than 300 of them were arrested. Last week, 54 farmers had their eviction orders nullified by a high court after they were found to have been served incorrectly. Under Zimbabwe's Land Acquisition Act farmers are given 45 days to wind up farming operations, and another 45 days to leave their homes after they receive an eviction notice, called a Section 8. However, the government has threatened simply to reissue the eviction orders following the letter of the law, and give the farmers just five days to leave their farms. - Sapa-AFP
Translation: to make way for Mugabe's relatives and cronies.
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