Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe kicking remaining white farmers off the land is a cynical gimmick
03 Jul 2014 at 14:42hrs | Views
Zimbabwe Social Democrats dismiss President Mugabe's drive to take away the farms from the few remaining white farms as a cynical and racist gimmick to divert attention away from the country's worsening economic situation.
Zimbabwe's economy is in total meltdown and instead of doing something to save the nation this Mugabe regime is dragging the nation deeper and deeper into this economic hell!
"Zim-Asset will never work because most resettled farmers have failed to work the land effectively, says Francis Nhema, the Minister of Youth Affairs, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment," The Zimbabwean reported 25 June 2013.
It was the chaotic farm seizures of the white-owned farms that cause the total collapse of the country's agricultural sector fuelling the country's economic meltdown. Getting this sector back on track is one of the requirements for economic recovery and the Minister's announcement that those who have failed to make productive use of the farms will have the farms taken away from them made sense.
So this announcement by President Mugabe to take away farms from the white farmers just because they are whites, regardless of whether the farmer are productive or not is madness.
"They can own companies and apartments in our towns and cities but not the soil. It is ours and that message should ring loud and clear in Britain and the United States," said President Mugabe, hardly a week since Minister Nhema's speech.
Most if not all the few remaining white farmers bought the farms after independence which is why they have been able to hang on to the farm up to now. In other words it was his Zanu-PF government that sold the farms to these white farmers. Why did he allow the sell to go ahead if he did not want any whites to own farms?
Who care if the cat is white or black as long as it catches mice!
What have the British or Americans to do with this chaos other than the regime using them as a smoke screen to hide its own failures! The regime has failed to raise the $27 billion for is ZimAsset recovery plan and the economy have continued its dangerous nose dive.
The worsening economic situation is bound to result in public unrest and the regime plans to use brute force to quell. If there should be any international outcry against its brutal repression it will dismiss it all on the grounds that the West is picking on him for taking the farms from the whites. This is a racist card Mugabe has played in the past and clearly intends to play again regardless the heavy price the nation has paid in the past, is paying now and is set to pay in the future.
Mugabe must go or the economic meltdown will continue with the tragic human suffering we can see already. Mugabe has been allowed to play his silly games for far too long, it is time that he is pressured to go.
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Wilbert Mukori is the Zimbabwe Social Democrats, Secretary General and can be contacted at zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
Zimbabwe's economy is in total meltdown and instead of doing something to save the nation this Mugabe regime is dragging the nation deeper and deeper into this economic hell!
"Zim-Asset will never work because most resettled farmers have failed to work the land effectively, says Francis Nhema, the Minister of Youth Affairs, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment," The Zimbabwean reported 25 June 2013.
It was the chaotic farm seizures of the white-owned farms that cause the total collapse of the country's agricultural sector fuelling the country's economic meltdown. Getting this sector back on track is one of the requirements for economic recovery and the Minister's announcement that those who have failed to make productive use of the farms will have the farms taken away from them made sense.
So this announcement by President Mugabe to take away farms from the white farmers just because they are whites, regardless of whether the farmer are productive or not is madness.
"They can own companies and apartments in our towns and cities but not the soil. It is ours and that message should ring loud and clear in Britain and the United States," said President Mugabe, hardly a week since Minister Nhema's speech.
Most if not all the few remaining white farmers bought the farms after independence which is why they have been able to hang on to the farm up to now. In other words it was his Zanu-PF government that sold the farms to these white farmers. Why did he allow the sell to go ahead if he did not want any whites to own farms?
Who care if the cat is white or black as long as it catches mice!
What have the British or Americans to do with this chaos other than the regime using them as a smoke screen to hide its own failures! The regime has failed to raise the $27 billion for is ZimAsset recovery plan and the economy have continued its dangerous nose dive.
The worsening economic situation is bound to result in public unrest and the regime plans to use brute force to quell. If there should be any international outcry against its brutal repression it will dismiss it all on the grounds that the West is picking on him for taking the farms from the whites. This is a racist card Mugabe has played in the past and clearly intends to play again regardless the heavy price the nation has paid in the past, is paying now and is set to pay in the future.
Mugabe must go or the economic meltdown will continue with the tragic human suffering we can see already. Mugabe has been allowed to play his silly games for far too long, it is time that he is pressured to go.
------------------
Wilbert Mukori is the Zimbabwe Social Democrats, Secretary General and can be contacted at zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
Source - Zimbabwe Social Democrats, Secretary General
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