The Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), a body that advocates for
the interest of a few remaining white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe
have boldly castigated Robert Mugabe for saying calling them ‘bloody
whites who want to poke their nose in our business and should leave
us alone”.
Mugabe made the offending remarks while addressing his party youth
conference in Harare at the weekend.
CFU President Deon Theron said in a statement, “The speech to the ZANU
(PF) youth may provide fuel for further politically motivated violence and disturbances on commercial farms at a time when peace and stability are required to ensure confidence and increased agricultural production in the current summer cropping season”.
CFU said the remarks by the 85 year old Mugabe are “contrary” to the
spirit of the Global Political Agreement signed by Mugabe his one-time
rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabe at the youth conference attacked western powers saying these
‘bloody whites’ who want to poke their nose in our business ‘should leave us alone.’ He warned farmers who resist to move from farms that have been allocated to new black farmers mainly from his Zanu PF party saying ‘I
will just send the police to drive them away.’
But CFU says they have been complying with the government led land reform programme but their members are being discriminated in getting land to farm.
Theron said “The CFU would like to place on record that farmers have complied with the criteria set out by the Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and resettlement in that applications have been made to continue farming and occupation of their farms. To date, regrettably, Government has not responded to the numerous applications which were made,”
GPA worthiness
Meanwhile, Morgan Tsvangirai has said his MDC party would next month
embark on a nationwide consultations from its supporters on the “sustainability and worthiness” of a power-sharing government with Mugabe’s ZANU PF party.
But Tsvangirai’s party did not say when exactly they would consult supporters over a coalition government. He said, “The party shall consult and engage its structures and the people of Zimbabwe within a specified period to ascertain the sustainability and worthiness of the inclusive government as a vehicle for real change and democracy in Zimbabwe,”
