(BBC) Zimbabwe farmer: 'I'm not giving up'

COMMENT - This level of skewed reporting and ineptitude deserves a running commentary - MrK

Zimbabwe farmer: 'I'm not giving up'
Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Dozens of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe have reportedly been invaded by supporters of President Robert Mugabe this month as the long-time opposition joined a national unity government.

Some suspect this is part of an attempt by hardline Mugabe supporters to scuttle the agreement. Catherine Meredith, 40, tells the BBC what happened to her farm.

Catherine Meredith

On February 6, a crowd of 30 men showed up on our land. Most of them were young, many of them wearing [President Mugabe's] Zanu-PF T-shirts.

I was away in South Africa visiting my son at university but my husband had stayed behind. We had a feeling that something could happen so we decided one of us should stay.

They told my husband that our farm was now being taken over by a local businessman. Their manner was boastful and arrogant.

[This starts off well. What is the level of arrogance and boastfulness observed among white farmers, I wonder? - MrK]

When I came back from South Africa a few days later, I was advised by the French embassy not to return to the farm (I'm originally from France).

[So 'white farmer' Meredith is an immigrant. Ok. - MrK]

This is because in 2008 there were similar invasions of white-owned farms and it got quite violent. Back then, there were people threatening to kill us and we had to leave our farm for some time.

[I wonder why they want them dead. - MrK]

This time, there was less violence, but I was in touch with my staff on the mobile from Harare. They told me the invaders had been menacing towards them and stopped them from working. This made my staff very angry, but they were under strict instructions from me not to lose it.

[I wonder how much 'her staff' get paid - say, per hour. - MrK]

'Rent-a-crowd'

After a week, my husband and I returned to the farm. In the meantime we had obtained a court order in Harare saying the squatters had no right to our land.

[So the original population are 'squatters'. Interesting. I guess that is why the BBC doesn't do interviews with them, because they might find out who really owns the land. - MrK]

File pic of a farm owner walking through the shell of his tobacco barn, torched by war veterans, near Harare

Past farm occupations by so-called war veterans have turned violent

The crowd was still there. The atmosphere was very tense, very unpleasant.

[Gee, I hope 'medem', or is that 'madame', wasn't too 'inconvenienced' or made 'uncomfortable' - MrK]

We calmly handed the eviction papers to the leader of the pack.

[So they're 'a pack' now, like 'wild animals', aye - MrK]

We want to follow the law by the letter. The local sheriff was with us. He explained to them that they had no right to be there.

They kept saying they hadn't been violent. But that isn't true. Last week they seized a member of my staff and pushed his face to the ground to get him to hand over the keys to our garden gate.

Then, 17 of them broke into our garden. Luckily, the police for once stuck up for us and prevented them from breaking into our house.

These squatters are arbitrary people who have been paid to squat on our farm. We call them 'rent-a-crowd'.

[And of course, being a BBC 'journalist', she takes her word for that. After all, she is a white farmer, and the 'the squatters' are mere Afs - right? And who would ask the Afs for their version of events? Not the BBC of course, because teh BBC has become a mouthpiece for the Foreign Office. But then, they never did interviews with the ANC before Apartheid came down, although they always did interviews with Pik Botha, or had Conservative apologists like William Waldegrave give the Apartheid version of events. - MrK]

But generally the local police haven't been very helpful. Despite the eviction order, they haven't tried to force the squatters off our land. They claim they haven't got the manpower to help us.

[Maybe for some mysterious reason, their hearts aren't in it. - MrK]

'Greedy people'

There are several reasons why these people have invaded our land now, just as a new unity government emerges.

[She means to say, several reasons why they could have. MrK]

Either it's a last push from Zanu-PF to seize all commercial white farms.

[Proof, sources? This is the level BBC 'journalism' has sunk to since Zimbabwe. - MrK]

The businessman who ordered the invasion is a Zanu-PF member - He seems to be a collector of farms

[Proof, sources, a name, perhaps? - MrK]

Or it's an attempt by the old regime to endanger the new government and show that it isn't working.

[No, that is the United States' job - if it wasn't, they would have lifted sanctions against Zimbabwe, specifically scrapped or amended sections 3 and 4C of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 - the sections that prevent the Zimbabwean government from borrowing or rescheduling loans - MrK]

Or it's just the last attempt of a group of greedy people who don't own their own farm to grab one from others.

[Here it gets truly absurd - how can poor, landless people at the same time be 'greedy'? - MrK]

Although the men that invaded our farm were wearing Zanu-PF T-shirts, it doesn't necessarily mean they are members of the party. They might just be one of the few t-shirts they own - Zanu has handed out so many.

But the businessman who ordered the invasion is a Zanu-PF member. He seems to be a collector of farms - he already owns three others that he has taken by force.

[Proof, sources, names? - MrK]

Financially this has cost us a great deal. The man who ordered the crowd to seize our land has allowed his cattle to walk through our maize fields. This has partly destroyed our crops.

[I'm sure not entirely unintentionally - but then, I don't think 'hints' are something she can wrap her brain around - MrK]

Emotionally, it's absolutely draining. You think you are protected by the law and then this happens.

[Gee, I wonder who that happened to before - you think you are proteced by the law, and then something called the British South Africa Company shows up, kills all the defenders they can, and give your land away to their 'kith and kin'. - MrK]

All of our children are grown up and have moved away and thank goodness for that. Otherwise we would have to worry about their safety as well.

[They wouldn't have to worry about anything, if they took a smaller farm or moved to Australia - for which they would be amply compensated by the British government - another option Zimbabweans don't have. - MrK]

On the surface, this invasion seems more peaceful than the one last year. But there are still about 12 of them on our land and you never know what they are capable of. They drink and smoke pot quite a bit, and it worries me.

[Ja, the 'Afs' might get out of control, aye? - MrK]

I have lived here since I was 23. Zimbabwe is my home now, I wouldn't know where else to go.

['Her home' and 'her land', but not 'her people', apparently. MrK]

My husband was born in this area and he speaks Shona. We belong here.

[Why, because he deigned it worthy to learn to speak the national language? And she has been in Zimbabwe for 17 years, but she still hasn't learned the language of 'her people' oh I forgot, the Zimbabweans aren't 'her people', but Zimbabwe is 'her home'. In which she didn't learn a word of Shona. Even though that is the language of 80% of Zimbabweans? - MrK]

We are not giving up. We strongly believe that change is coming to Zimbabwe.

My feeling is that we are very near the end of these troubles. We have a new prime minister now.

I'm 100% confident that in five years' time, I'll still be living on this farm.

[Or a much smaller one. Oh and by the way, nowhere in this article is it mentioned what the actual size of this 'farm' is. Is it one of those 2500 hectare estates - which was the average size of a 'commercial' farm in Zimbabwe before land reform, or is it bigger than that? The A1 commercial farms the Zimbabwean government is redistributing are 250 hectares in size - over 2.5 times the average farm in the EU, which is 90 hectares. And still, the 'white farmers' are not satisfied, they want their estates back. - MrK]


Zimbabwe 'to arrest land thieves'
Friday, 27 March 2009

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said that anyone invading farms will be arrested - in an apparent challenge to Robert Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai said the recent land invasions "are actually acts of theft".

[Actually, that is, still, President Mugabe, not Mr. Mugabe. - MrK]

President Mugabe has said that the government would continue to seize white-owned farms as part of his land reform policy. Veteran opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai joined Mr Mugabe in a power-sharing government last month. The seizure of white-owned land is one of Mr Mugabe's defining policies but his critics say it has destroyed the economy.

[Which critics? Names, sources, proof? For what reason do 'these critics' not believe that it was forcing the Zimbabwean government to operate on a cash only basis would destroy the economy. Of course they did, but they want to blame land reform for the effect of the sanctions they santimoniously and cowardly pretend do not exist. See sections 3 and 4C of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. I quote:

... the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to oppose and vote against--

(1) any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or

(2) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution.

- That is what destroyed the Zimbabwean economy, sanctions, issued by the Bush Administration, drawn up by MDC member Eddie 'Crash And Burn' Cross. - MrK]

The occupation of farms resumed shortly after the power-sharing government was sworn in, with some accusing hard-line allies of Mr Mugabe of trying to scupper the deal.

[Some? Sources, names? - MrK]

"This government is aware that most of the ongoing disruptions of agricultural production, which are being done in the name of the land reform process, are actually acts of theft," Mr Tsvangirai told a meeting of diplomats, civic society and business leaders, in one of his first public appearances since the death of his wife in a car crash earlier this month.

['Ongoing disruptions to agricultural production' - I guess Morgan is just being 'a good boy', and favoring 'business' over the rights of his own people. No wonder he is the darling of the BBC - MrK]

"Those continuing to undertake these activities will be arrested and face justice in the courts.

"I have tasked the minister of home affairs to ensure that all crimes are acted upon and the perpetrators arrested and charged."

However, there are two home affairs ministers in the unity administration, as neither side would cede control of the ministry which is responsible for the police.

Last month, Mr Mugabe said there would be "no going back" on land reform, despite a ruling from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) tribunal last year that the seizures were illegal.

[This was the tribunal in which a Botswnanan judge found in favour of white farmers, because, as the beneficiaries of rhodesian apartheid were all white, and the people whose land was stolen were all black, giving white owned land back to black people constituted 'racial discrimination'. Oh and by the way, SADC has no juristiction over land redistribution in Zimbabwe - MrK]

The government's seizure of white-owned land since 2000 was often accompanied by violent invasions by supporters of Mr Mugabe.

[More often, it was effected by African people who wanted their ancestral land back - not something you will see reported on the BBC. In fact, if you read the BBC, you would not think any African farmer actually wanted his land back at all, and that they were 'just fine' with working as Mrs. Meredith's 'staff'. And that's another thing - why are only white farmers interviewed atlength by the BBC? Why is there not a single interview with one of the 314,000 resettled African farmers who think land reform was great? It is almost as if the BBC has an agenda... Could that be? Could it be that the reputation the BBC has built up for itself, on 'objectivity', 'fairness' and of course 'evenhandedness' is just hot air? - MrK]

Mr Tsvangirai has long criticised the way land reform was carried out. But a commitment to continue the policy was a key part of the power-sharing agreement.

[You had better believe it. If they try to reverse land reform, there will be civil war. Those 314,000 'friends and cronies of Mugabe' aren't going to be turfed off their land easily again. - MrK]