18 white farmers evicted in week of madness

By Never Kadungure

Zimbabwe’s coalition government will tell anyone who bothers to listen that the country is now safe for business and that investors should bring in their money to take advantage of the ‘new environment of stability’.

Perhaps the country’s white commercial farmers have a different Zimbabwe that they are living in. After last weeks’ purge of 16 farmers who were hounded off their farms, former Commercial Farmers Union Vice President Trevor Gifford was similarly kicked off his farm in Chipinge on Sunday.

Again in Chipinge renowned coffee farmer Michel Fayd’herbe was kicked off his La Lucie Estate again on Sunday. All 18 farmers affected have court orders allowing them to stay on their farms while they contest the compulsory acquisition of their farms under Mugabe’s ‘farms for the boys’ scheme.

“The Commercial Farmers Union is gravely concerned with the recent harassment of productive farms and the failure of the police to render assistance in spite of high court orders for farmers to remain in occupation,” CFU vice president Charles Taffs told a news conference.

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