he and the Castro brothers are the last of the anti imperialists old school og's.
World Africa
Robert Mugabe says no whites may own land in Zimbabwe
Kicking out the last white farmers may be a ploy to divert attention from an economic catastrophe.
By our correspondent July 3, 2014
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Afri...ugabe-says-no-whites-may-own-land-in-Zimbabwe
Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe has ordered the nation’s remaining white farmers to be booted off their farms in order that the land be given to black Zimbabweans.
In the harshest official policy on race and land reform in a country that has been close to bankruptcy, the 90-year old autocrat said Wednesday that whites may no longer own any land in Zimbabwe. Whites would still be allowed to own businesses and urban apartments.
Speaking to farmers in Mhangura, a small mining town about 120 miles north of the capital Harare, Mr. Mugabe, said all remaining white farmers should leave – and closed the door even on white families renting farms from black owners, as some several hundred have been doing since most were violently chased away a decade ago.
“I have been given a list of 35 white farmers in Mashonaland West alone,” Mr. Mugabe told an emotional crowd in what was billed a patriotic speech. “We say no to whites owning our land and they should go. … They can own companies and apartments…but not the soil. It is ours and that message should ring loud and clear in Britain and the United States.”
The policy seemed chilling to many here. Barnabas Thondlana, editor of “The Observer,” a weekly, told the Monitor that, “I strongly and vigorously denounce someone who expects me to hate someone because of the color of their skin. I think what the president is doing is out of order because the problem with our country at the moment are not whites.”
Mugabe, reelected last summer to his fifth consecutive term, also fingered his own associates who make lucrative profits owning farm land and renting it to whites. Mugabe characterized this practice as unpatriotic under his notions of indigenous black African nationalism.
“There are white farmers who are still on the land and have the protection of some cabinet ministers and politicians as well as traditional leaders. That should never happen. They [whites] were living like kings and queens on our land and we chucked them out. Now we want all of it.”
War veterans
At the turn of the century Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader, unleashed waves of violent land acquisition by war veterans aligned to his political party. Thousands of white commercial farmers were forced out under a so-called “indigenization” land reform policy.
Mugabe’s land seizure was widely seen as a means of strengthening his grip on power after the emergence in 1999 of a robust opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai – whom Mugabe defeated in the election last July. The policy gave Mugabe a means to pacify a black rural population that for years had worked the least productive land, a legacy of British colonial era.
Since then, Zimbabwe has been in an economic tailspin, with banks collapsing and with the government unable to pay the wages of many in the civil sector.
Much of the land previously taken by those in the Mugabe regime has benefited the security, police and military wings of the leader’s circle.
Mr. Thondlana, the weekly editor, adds: “The problems with our country at the moment are dictatorship, [bad] governance, corruption, kleptocracy and other all forms of prejudices. We should be fighting these prejudices like tribalism, regionalism and racism. I say no to racism.”
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Says Remaining White Farmers Must Go
By Mthulisi Mathuthu, 3 July 2014
As the EU moves to re-engage with Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has said the few remaining white farmers must go adding that his message 'should ring loud and clear in Britain and in the USA.'
According to Newzimbabwe.com, Mugabe said the white farmers 'were living like Kings and Queens on our land and we chucked them out. Now we want it all.'
Speaking in Mhangura at the launch of the new permits for the small scale farmers Mugabe said an ongoing land audit, whose details were shown to him, has so far revealed that there were 35 white farmers in Mashonaland West alone and those farmers 'should go.' He said: 'No to whites owning our land. They can own companies and apartments in our towns and cities but not the soil.'
Mugabe castigated cabinet ministers and traditional leaders who are in partnership with whites on farms that were allocated to them through the land grab exercise, saying they could lose their properties. He said partnership with whites 'should never happen' and government will 'deal' with the concerned ministers, urging Fortune Charumbira, the president of the Chiefs Council, to rein in his members.
Mugabe said government will not pay for the seized land because the white farmers 'never paid for it in the first place.' He also claimed that under the new tenure system the new black farmers will be assisted to access funding from the banks. He added that the new tenure system was' a shield against Western machinations to reverse the land reform programme through the MDC-T.'
Economist Masimba Kuchera said Mugabe's comments were 'ill-timed' and they will 'not send a positive signal to investors and to people with an interest in the country.' He added: 'They also send a mixed message, especially considering that they come at a time when his government seems to be welcoming the idea of re-engaging with the rest of the World.'
However Kuchera said Mugabe's comments were in keeping with his usual rhetoric when speaking to the villagers and rural farmers.
Commercial Framers Union President Charles Taffs said: 'This, 34 years into independence, is extremely unhelpful to Zimbabwe as a country and sends a very bad message to any potential investor; it is just not conducive to growth.'
He added: 'The country needs to change its narrative when it comes to issues regarding land and agricultural production because we are an economy in an absolute crisis. There is no time for racial divisions; we need to come together to find the country's solutions.'
Mugabe's rhetoric comes after the EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell'Ariccia, claimed that there was 'no leadership crisis' in Zimbabwe and chided the civil society for being 'anti-government.'
It also comes after some indigenous whites, led by cricketer Heath Streak, blamed the West's targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle for Zimbabwe's decline.
But a statement from the Zimbabwe Social Democrats said Zimbabwe's economic decline began when government seized the white-owned land and destroyed commercial agriculture and drove away investors. The party said 'getting back the agricultural sector on track is one of the requirements for economic recovery.'
Mugabe kicking remaining white farmers off land is cynical gimmick
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407040299.html
World Africa
Robert Mugabe says no whites may own land in Zimbabwe
Kicking out the last white farmers may be a ploy to divert attention from an economic catastrophe.
By our correspondent July 3, 2014
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Afri...ugabe-says-no-whites-may-own-land-in-Zimbabwe
Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe has ordered the nation’s remaining white farmers to be booted off their farms in order that the land be given to black Zimbabweans.
In the harshest official policy on race and land reform in a country that has been close to bankruptcy, the 90-year old autocrat said Wednesday that whites may no longer own any land in Zimbabwe. Whites would still be allowed to own businesses and urban apartments.
Speaking to farmers in Mhangura, a small mining town about 120 miles north of the capital Harare, Mr. Mugabe, said all remaining white farmers should leave – and closed the door even on white families renting farms from black owners, as some several hundred have been doing since most were violently chased away a decade ago.
“I have been given a list of 35 white farmers in Mashonaland West alone,” Mr. Mugabe told an emotional crowd in what was billed a patriotic speech. “We say no to whites owning our land and they should go. … They can own companies and apartments…but not the soil. It is ours and that message should ring loud and clear in Britain and the United States.”
The policy seemed chilling to many here. Barnabas Thondlana, editor of “The Observer,” a weekly, told the Monitor that, “I strongly and vigorously denounce someone who expects me to hate someone because of the color of their skin. I think what the president is doing is out of order because the problem with our country at the moment are not whites.”
Mugabe, reelected last summer to his fifth consecutive term, also fingered his own associates who make lucrative profits owning farm land and renting it to whites. Mugabe characterized this practice as unpatriotic under his notions of indigenous black African nationalism.
“There are white farmers who are still on the land and have the protection of some cabinet ministers and politicians as well as traditional leaders. That should never happen. They [whites] were living like kings and queens on our land and we chucked them out. Now we want all of it.”
War veterans
At the turn of the century Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader, unleashed waves of violent land acquisition by war veterans aligned to his political party. Thousands of white commercial farmers were forced out under a so-called “indigenization” land reform policy.
Mugabe’s land seizure was widely seen as a means of strengthening his grip on power after the emergence in 1999 of a robust opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai – whom Mugabe defeated in the election last July. The policy gave Mugabe a means to pacify a black rural population that for years had worked the least productive land, a legacy of British colonial era.
Since then, Zimbabwe has been in an economic tailspin, with banks collapsing and with the government unable to pay the wages of many in the civil sector.
Much of the land previously taken by those in the Mugabe regime has benefited the security, police and military wings of the leader’s circle.
Mr. Thondlana, the weekly editor, adds: “The problems with our country at the moment are dictatorship, [bad] governance, corruption, kleptocracy and other all forms of prejudices. We should be fighting these prejudices like tribalism, regionalism and racism. I say no to racism.”
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Says Remaining White Farmers Must Go
By Mthulisi Mathuthu, 3 July 2014
As the EU moves to re-engage with Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has said the few remaining white farmers must go adding that his message 'should ring loud and clear in Britain and in the USA.'
According to Newzimbabwe.com, Mugabe said the white farmers 'were living like Kings and Queens on our land and we chucked them out. Now we want it all.'
Speaking in Mhangura at the launch of the new permits for the small scale farmers Mugabe said an ongoing land audit, whose details were shown to him, has so far revealed that there were 35 white farmers in Mashonaland West alone and those farmers 'should go.' He said: 'No to whites owning our land. They can own companies and apartments in our towns and cities but not the soil.'
Mugabe castigated cabinet ministers and traditional leaders who are in partnership with whites on farms that were allocated to them through the land grab exercise, saying they could lose their properties. He said partnership with whites 'should never happen' and government will 'deal' with the concerned ministers, urging Fortune Charumbira, the president of the Chiefs Council, to rein in his members.
Mugabe said government will not pay for the seized land because the white farmers 'never paid for it in the first place.' He also claimed that under the new tenure system the new black farmers will be assisted to access funding from the banks. He added that the new tenure system was' a shield against Western machinations to reverse the land reform programme through the MDC-T.'
Economist Masimba Kuchera said Mugabe's comments were 'ill-timed' and they will 'not send a positive signal to investors and to people with an interest in the country.' He added: 'They also send a mixed message, especially considering that they come at a time when his government seems to be welcoming the idea of re-engaging with the rest of the World.'
However Kuchera said Mugabe's comments were in keeping with his usual rhetoric when speaking to the villagers and rural farmers.
Commercial Framers Union President Charles Taffs said: 'This, 34 years into independence, is extremely unhelpful to Zimbabwe as a country and sends a very bad message to any potential investor; it is just not conducive to growth.'
He added: 'The country needs to change its narrative when it comes to issues regarding land and agricultural production because we are an economy in an absolute crisis. There is no time for racial divisions; we need to come together to find the country's solutions.'
Mugabe's rhetoric comes after the EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell'Ariccia, claimed that there was 'no leadership crisis' in Zimbabwe and chided the civil society for being 'anti-government.'
It also comes after some indigenous whites, led by cricketer Heath Streak, blamed the West's targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle for Zimbabwe's decline.
But a statement from the Zimbabwe Social Democrats said Zimbabwe's economic decline began when government seized the white-owned land and destroyed commercial agriculture and drove away investors. The party said 'getting back the agricultural sector on track is one of the requirements for economic recovery.'
Mugabe kicking remaining white farmers off land is cynical gimmick
http://allafrica.com/stories/201407040299.html
on the one hand I understand, on the other hand...i sorta still understand.
@ the people who will use this as some sorta of justification for racism in other places. "See they do it in Africa to white people..."
