Zimbabwe Whites Offer 200 Farms
Zimbabwe’s white farmers union said Monday that more than 200 white-owned farms would be offered for sale to President Robert Mugabe’s government for black resettlement.
The offer came on the last day for commercial farmers to object to Mugabe’s controversial seizure of 804 white-owned farms for redistribution to landless peasants.
“Farmers are not just objecting. They are also putting something on the table,” said a spokesman for the Commercial Farmers’ Union.
The government last month published a list of the 804 farms it wants to forcibly acquire under its land reform program. They account for about 10% of the estimated 30 million acres of prime farmland owned by the 1% white minority.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders said that over the weekend, police forcibly broke up opposition election celebrations and raided nightclubs to look for revelers. The party-goers were celebrating the Movement for Democratic Change’s big gains in June 24-25 parliamentary elections.
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