DATE=5/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ZIMBABWE SITUATION (L-CQ)
NUMBER=2-262763
BYLINE=PETA THORNYCROFT
DATELINE=HARARE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has signed
a new law allowing the government to seize white-owned
farms without compensation. Peta Thornycroft in
Harare reports the law takes effect even though
Zimbabwe's parliament is dissolved.
TEXT: President Mugabe has special powers to pass
laws by decree. And he can now use these powers to
seize white-owned farms for redistribution. The
owners of the land will receive no compensation for
their farms.
Government land seizure, which is now legal, comes
just one month before Zimbabwe's parliamentary
elections.
Shortly before parliament was dissolved last month
ahead of elections, the constitution was amended to
allow farms to be seized without compensation.
About four-thousand white farmers own 20 percent of
the best land in Zimbabwe, The sale of their farm
products provides 40 percent of the country's foreign
currency.
In February, some veterans of Zimbabwe's independence
war and government supporters began occupying white-
owned farms, protesting that the land had been stolen
by white British settlers in the last century. The
land occupations began soon after a majority of
Zimbabweans rejected a new constitution.
Violence followed the land invasions. At least 23
people have been killed and hundreds injured and
terrorized. Most of those attacked were supporters of
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, M-D-C.
On Wednesday, the M-D-C said political violence is
increasing and it called for more international
pressure on President Mugabe's government. The M-D-C
describes the process leading to parliamentary
elections as a farce.
Philiat Matsheza, the executive director of a private
group which has trained thousands of election
monitors, says he is concerned about political
violence. He says several election monitors have
already been beaten during this pre-election period.
This week, a private U-S group, the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs, said
it is not possible to hold free and fair elections
in Zimbabwe.
/// OPT /// South African President Thabo Mbeki
said during a visit to the United States that the U-S
group should not judge elections in Zimbabwe before
they had taken place. But in South Africa, a member
of parliament from the ruling A-N-C party gave
parliament notice of a motion condemning violence and
"thuggery" in Zimbabwe, saying such conditions
severely compromise the possibility of a free, fair,
and credible election. /// END OPT ///
Meanwhile, white commercial farmers say they do not
know which of their farms have been seized by
President Mugabe's proclamation. At a news conference
Wednesday, the Commercial Farmers Union said a
substantial amount of white-owned land has long been
available for resettlement. The union said farmers
need to be paid for their land. (Signed)
NEB/PT/JWH/KBK/JP
24-May-2000 13:09 PM EDT (24-May-2000 1709 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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