Farms raided as Mugabe incites racial tension
This is a script that we have all read before. Mugabe has now dispatched his war veterans to go to the houses of any remaining whites in Zimbabwe and to tell them that they have four hours to leave their homes, which implies that the whole exercise is state sanctioned, especially as state TV is following them as they do this and filming their actions.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) warned that it might boycott a second round of elections because it would lead Zimbabweans "to the slaughter" of a wave of government-sponsored violence.It is astonishing that nine days after the election Mugabe has still refused to publish the results.
It is instead taking legal action to force the state election commission to immediately release results from the presidential election, held nine days ago, which the MDC says will show that its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, won outright with 50.3% of the vote, making a run-off election unnecessary. The high court is expected to rule on the petition today.
Writing in today's Guardian, Tsvangirai calls on Britain, the US and South Africa to come to the defence of democracy in Zimbabwe. He said Zanu-PF was withholding the election results and planning a violent second round campaign in an attempt to maintain its "untenable grip on power".Britain and the US can do very little other than issue words of condemnation, which carry very little weight amongst Zimbabweans as a result of Britain's colonial past. South Africa are uniquely positioned to have an impact on this situation but Mbeki has always shown himself to be reluctant to intervene. He, more than anyone else, has allowed Mugabe to get away with this stuff.
There was a time when such arguments - about returning white farmers - might have worked in any forthcoming election, but with inflation running at over 100,000%, most Zimbabweans will realise that there is no-one waiting at the borders keen to join Zimbabwe's economic nightmare.The war veterans are going round giving notice to farmers to get off immediately. They've been taking over equipment and livestock and telling the farmers their time is up. This thing can quickly get out of control if it's not dealt with," he said. "Why was the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation there to film the threats to the farmer? You can see this thing is orchestrated."
Chanting war veterans, some of them beating drums, also threatened farmers in Centenary, where the owners were given hours to leave.
There were also signs of renewed pressure on the opposition. Prosper Mutseyami, a newly elected opposition MP from Manicaland, said the police were arresting MDC election agents there. "Nine of our agents were beaten up by the police and then arrested for behaviour likely to provoke a breach of the peace," he said.
In a sign that the government intends again to make white farmers an election issue, the justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, a Zanu-PF hardliner, claimed the MDC was bringing exiled farmers back in to Zimbabwe ready to reclaim their land.
"The MDC claim they have won and they are unleashing former white farmers on farms occupied by new farmers to reverse the land reform programme," he said. "Their intention is to destabilise the country into chaos over the land issue."
The countryside has turned on Mugabe and it will be well nigh impossible for him the ever get them back. They know who is responsible, and it's not the remaining 300 white framers.
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