President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, which has mounted a six-year campaign to seize white-owned farms, is poised to allow hundreds of white farmers to return to their land as the country faces starvation and economic collapse.
"There could be some 300 whites back on farms by the end of next year," government land adviser Sam Moyo said. "Most of them will be running commercial farms."
Since November, 19 white farmers who lost ownership of their land have been granted 99-year government-backed leases on resettled farms in a spectacular U-turn by Mugabe.
On a commercial farm lying off a clay-dirt road just outside the town of Kadoma, 118km from the capital Harare, Jim Boethe described how he had been invited back to his land.
"When land-reform started we had nearly 1,000 hectares growing maize," he said. "It was divided up [by the government] and now we only have 100. But we are happy to be back -- we applied for the lease and are waiting for it to be signed."
In July 2005 Mugabe declared that his land reform policy would be complete only when there was "not a single white on the farms."
A contracting economy, hyperinflation touching 1,100 percent and food shortages have forced the authorities to allow some interested whites to return.
"We had to demonstrate to the government that we were going to be productive, such as growing food for local markets and not just for export. We grow maize, sweet potatoes and tomatoes and export our paprika," Boethe said.
The land minister, Flora Buka, said the government had received more than 200 applications so far from whites to take up farming again. There are only about 600 white farmers left in Zimbabwe, down from 4,500 six years ago.
After Mugabe was defeated in a referendum on Zimbabwe's Constitution in 1999 the government decided to "fast-track" land reform to win over a hostile electorate, resulting in farm seizures by supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party spearheaded by landless veterans of the country's war for independence.
The UN-funded World Food Program said that 2 million Zimbabweans will need food aid in the next six months despite improved agricultural output last season.
But welcoming back white farmers might be too little too late.
"We know other farmers that have gone elsewhere -- Australia, South Africa, even Nigeria. We looked at a farm in neighboring Zambia too, just to keep our options open," Boethe said.
Critics say the new 99-year leases won't do much to boost productivity and that farmers will be reluctant to invest.
The government is more bullish, arguing that land reform has been consolidated -- with some 150,000 people resettled onto farms according to official figures -- and yields will begin to increase.
But the move comes amid deepening crisis in the country as Mugabe has announced plans to "harmonize" presidential elections -- scheduled for 2008 -- with the parliamentary poll in 2010.
The government says the plan will save money, but critics say it is the first move to prolonging Mugabe's rule indefinitely -- fears that were fueled when a minister recently suggested Mugabe should be made president for life.
The proposal infuriated Zanu moderates who were hoping Mugabe would retire a new government could rebuild bridges with Western aid donors.
The proposal has also inflamed a succession struggle following Mugabe's decision in 2004 to appoint Joyce Mujuru, a relative political lightweight, as his deputy -- a post seen as a stepping stone for the top job. Mujuru, who owns several farms, is jostling against the rural housing minister Emmerson Mnangagwa for Mugabe's blessing.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number