Nelson Banya | Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers have reported an increase in invasions on their farms ahead of a deadline for them to leave land due to be taken by President Robert Mugabe’s government.
Mugabe’s government, which went on a drive to acquire white-held land to resettle landless black people in 2000, has given hundreds of white farmers until August to vacate the farms.
White commercial farmers and black people illegally occupying some farms were given deadlines between July and August to leave.
The Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU), which represents the interests of most of Zimbabwe’s remaining white farmers, says its members had reported new invasions ahead of the deadline.”There has been an increase in purported new beneficiaries coming into farms demanding that farmers leave immediately, leaving equipment, which is contrary to ongoing court proceedings and guidelines issued by the ministry,” CFU spokesperson Emily Crookes said.
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