Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) Land acquisition to continue: Mugabe

Land acquisition to continue: Mugabe
03/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

SANCTIONS slapped on Zimbabwe by the West were aimed at stopping the country’s land reforms President Robert Mugabe has said, insisting the measures had failed and should be lifted. Mugabe is on a three-day visit to Zambia where he will also officially open the country’s annual agricultural and commercial show on Saturday.

Speaking during a state banquet held in his honour, Mugabe said the sanctions, imposed more than a decade ago, were meant to stop the seizures of land from white farmers for redistribution to landless blacks.

"The sanctions are a deliberate ploy to make us fail as Zimbabwe, but I can tell you that these sanctions have failed and they are not justified and should be removed," he said.

"We refused to stop the land acquisition. The land in Zimbabwe is ours."

Last month the European Union (EU) promised to ease most of the sanctions only if the country holds a "credible" vote on a new constitution, a key reform before new elections.

EU ministers said sanctions would be lifted against most of the 112 Zimbabweans still listed on a decade-old EU asset freeze and travel ban. But veteran leader Mugabe would remain on an EU blacklist.

[And then there is the credit freeze of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, section 4C. - MrK]

"We will continue to fight for these sanctions to be removed. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans and we will not surrender," said Mugabe.

He said despite the sanctions the "economy has grown, the mines are growing, inflation has gone down".

Mugabe who is accompanied by his wife Grace, and senior government officials also commended the cooperation between the two neighbouring countries which dates back to the 1950s.

“The past is what has made the present, where we are today. And now in our present circumstances, we should cooperate even more so that the beneficiaries can understand our history,” he said.

Mugabe was expected to meet the country’s first President, Kenneth Kaunda on Friday before opening the agricultural show on Saturday.

Labels: KENNETH KAUNDA, LAND REFORM, ROBERT MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 2:52 AM