Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Land appeals are a waste of time: President Mugabe

Land appeals are a waste of time: President Mugabe
By: Ralph Mutema
Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010 9:03 pm

PRESIDENT Mugabe says white commercial farmers will never be able to reverse the land reform programme that was instituted by government since 2000 which has seen land reallocated to landless blacks.

The president said the commercial farmers can appeal to any court — regional or international — but government will never be bound by the decisions. The president said this while addressing hundreds of mourners at the burial of liberation war hero and brother to the First Lady, Mr Reward Marufu.

Marufu died last week on Wednesday and was buried yesterday at Madondo Village in Chivhu with full military honours. He had battled hypertension for some years.

President Mugabe said efforts by some white farmers to use the Sadc Tribunal would not yield any results as its decisions are unenforceable in Zimbabwe. The president said the Tribunal was improperly constituted and could not be a court of first instance.

He urged Zimbabweans to remain united in defence of the country’s sovereignty, hard earned independence, its heritage and natural resources.

"We should remain united and not quarrel amongst ourselves. Some people want white people to remain on our farm.

"We want them to remain in this country and live peacefully with everybody, businesspeople are welcome in this country and those who want to live in Zimbabwe are also welcome. But they should know that things have changed. The land is now in our hands.

"They should be content with the pieces of land that we allocate them. If government has a policy iof redistributing land it should be respected and it's no use going to the Sadc Tribunal. Whose Tribunal?" said the president.

"We are a sovereign and independent country. Our laws should be respected and the Tribunal should know that we have our own laws.

"Land is now in the hands of black people and nothing will change that. You cannot blame them for taking back their land from those who stole it in the first place."

He said: "They can go to any part of the world but nothing will change. Let us remain united in this country!"

President Mugabe urged traditional leaders to ensure that the gains of the liberation struggle were safeguarded.

He warned some farmers against being used by former commercial farmers as they risked losing the land to the State.

President Mugabe said Marufu belonged to a rare crop of freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the country.

He said Zimbabweans should work hard to defend the gains of the liberation struggle in honour of people like Marufu, who suffered from the effect of the war.

National Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi hailed Marufu for being an "intelligence officer par excellence".

"The field of intelligence was his forte and indeed he made his mark in this discipline.

"In the world of intelligence, one never retires, hence, although he was said to have retired, he remained one of us. That is why today we are overwhelmed by this great loss."

Chief Musarurwa, who was representing the area’s traditional leadership, expressed his gratitude for the respect accorded to one of their sons.

"If only we could learn from people like Cde Marufu, being unwavering and straight, we would succeed as a country."

He hailed Marufu as a humble but principled man who worked for the independence of the country and its development.

Labels: LAND REFORM, REWARD MARUFU, ROBERT MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 8:37 PM