Racist Mutasa threatens to evict more white farmers

By Tererai Karimakwenda
19 September 2005

Using strong racist language at a land audit meeting in Masvingo last week the minister for State Security and Land Reform, Didymus Mutasa, referred to the remaining white commercial farmers as “filth”, and said they must be "cleared out" under a new land resettlement operation.

Calling this new operation “Faster Track,” Mutasa said the government would grab more farms before the end of the month in order to "rid the country of the white community" who escaped the initial takeovers. He said Operation Murambatsvina should also be applied to the land reform programme and that white farmers are ‘dirty’ and should be cleared out. The government will not hesitate to take their farms,” he said, “to resettle the black people who failed to get land during the redistribution exercise.” Mutasa appointed a Masvingo provincial land committee headed by Governor Willard Chiwewe. It includes the provincial heads of the police, CIO and the army who will distribute land to people in the province. He also promised to give traditional leaders priority in the allocation of land, claiming they were sidelined in the programme and "that is why maybe it has not been raining".

Chiredzi farmer Eric Harrison is one of the remaining farmers who has stayed through all the chaos to try and make a difference in agriculture. Harrison said he simply laughs at Mutasa’s comments because the results of these racist policies speak for themselves, there is no food for the population. He remembered promises made by Robert Mugabe at independence when he asked farmers to stay and help in a new Zimbabwe that was not racist.

Harrison said many of the remaining farmers are making alternative plans because there is no security at all. He believes because of the racist policies production levels are pathetic and other countries are benefiting from farmers leaving Zimbabwe.