Farmers’ Union President and Vice President face eviction

By Tererai Karimakwenda
29 April, 2008

State-sponsored violence and intimidation on commercial farms is reported to have intensified with several white farmers barricaded in their farmhouses and others evicted without any notice. Among them are the top officials from the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU). There are also reports that local ZANU-PF councillors are forcing people on nearby farms to attend meetings where they are accused of being MDC voters and are told that they are going to be beaten and killed at night.

CFU President Trevor Gifford is barricaded in his house and experiencing serious problems on his farm. It is not clear who is on the farm trying to evict him. Gifford has always advocated that white farmers should co-operate with the government and try to find ways to resolve the land issue, without interrupting food production for the nation.

Deon Theron, the CFU Vice President, has been evicted from his farm. He and his family produce food and milk for the country. He was evicted despite a pending appeal in the High Court seeking to block his eviction, and an interim relief order granted to him and a number of other farmers by the SADC Tribunal in Namibia.

It appears the CFU’s efforts to work with the government have been in vain as the violent campaign continues to illegally evict commercial farmers. Thousands of farm workers are also losing their homes and employment.

There is virtually no food being produced in the country. Farmer and activist Gerry Whitehead said all the supermarkets and wholesalers’ shelves in the Chiredzi area are empty, except for a few packets of chips and rotting vegetables. Basic commodities such as maize meal, sugar, milk and soap cannot be found in the lowveld at all.

Whitehead said that there was a lot of shouting in Tshovani Township near Chiredzi on Monday night. When he spoke to several people the next morning he discovered that the residents were shouting “Mugabe must go”.

Whitehead said MDC youth are forming units to protect themselves and to ward off the youth militia. A similar action has taken place in the Zaka constituencies and in Masvingo. The outspoken farmer said there is a lot of despondency and a lot of anger.