Zimbabwe: President Mugabe Warns Black Farmers Against Returning Land to White Settlers

By Staff Writer

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has warned black farmers who benefited from his controversial land reforms against giving land back to whites, state television reports on Friday July 4.

Mugabe on Wednesday July 2 called on the country's remaining white farmers to cede land to black people while addressing his supporters at a rally in Mashonaland West province, a stronghold of Zanu-PF .

"We say no to whites owning our land and they should go," he said.

The white farmers union said it was regrettable that racial tensions were flaring up again.

With only 100-150 white farmers left in Zimbabwe, Commercial Farmers Union director Hendricks Olivier told the press that the president's comments had unsettled white farmers. "We'd like to move forward and work with the government of the day."

The president's critics say his land reform policy of seizing most of Zimbabwe's white-owned farms launched in 2000 and which was accompanied by violent evictions, aimed to resettle blacks on 4000 commercial farms caused the country's economic meltdown in the last decade 2009

"What annoys us... is where our own indigenous farmers sub-lease to the very same white farmers we took our heritage from yesterday," said Mugabe while issuing permits to black farmers.

He said white Zimbabweans can own companies in the country but should back off on land ownership.

Mugabe, 90, has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

He was re-elected president last year with 61% of the total vote, defeating his long-standing rival Morgan Tsvangirai of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The president's Zanu-PF party also gained a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds, winning 160 of the 210 seats.

“Mr. Mugabe's comments are surprising, as the government officially ended its land reform programme about two years ago,” said BBC Zimbabwe analyst Stanley Kwenda.

He said Mugabe just wants to deflect attention from Zimbabwe's economic crisis, especially worsening unemployment and the closure of firms.

The land reforms have drastically reduced agricultural production, as most of the beneficiaries lacked both farming equipment and expertise after several thousand of white farmers were forced to abandon farming after the government launched a controversial land reform programme nearly 15 years ago.