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Mugabe's secret plan to evict all whites By Christina Lamb in Harare and David Bamber (Filed: 26/08/2001)

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe plans to expel all white farmers from Zimbabwe before next year's elections, according to a secret document obtained by The Telegraph.

The revelation came as Richard Caborn, the minister for sport, urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to reconsider its October tour of Zimbabwe after the BBC was banned from the event.

The secret order from Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party to self-styled war veterans outlines the political goals of the campaign against white farmers.

Entitled Operation Give up and Leave, it reads: "The operation should be thoroughly planned so that farmers are systematically harassed and mentally tortured and their farms destabilised until they give in and give up."

The document was circulated in July, just before the recent round of invasions in Chinoyi, Doma and Hwedza in which many farmers were evicted and farms brought to a standstill by the forced removal of their workers.

Farmers who resist, it says, should face the "Pamire-silencing method", a reference to Chris Pamire, a businessman and former Zanu-PF supporter who fell out with Mr Mugabe and was killed in a mysterious road accident. "You know what happened to Pamire" has become a widely used threat.

Referring to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, the document states: "The opposition should be systematically infiltrated with highly-paid people to destabilise and cause divisions and infighting."

War veterans are promised "big rewards if the opposition and white farmers are brought to their knees". It assures them there will be "no going back on farm seizures".

Whites have now been told they must renounce their right to a British passport this year if they wish to retain Zimbabwean citizenship. The announcement has left many of the estimated 40,000 British nationals in Zimbabwe in a dilemma. A circular from the British High Commission warns that those who do will lose their right to consular assistance.

Last week Joseph Made, the agriculture minister, said white-owned farms listed for resettlement must be vacated by Friday. More than 90 per cent of the country's 4,600 white farms are listed and the Commercial Farmers' Union has warned that the disruption will cause food shortages.

There is a growing fear that violence will intensify as Mr Mugabe, angered by the continued presence of the whites, steps up his election campaign. He has intensified his anti-British rhetoric in recent days.

In a speech last week, he devoted nine of the 23 pages to the hanging of a black girl by the British colonial authorities in 1898. On Thursday, he declared: "Whatever machinations the British are capable of - and they are capable of many - they will not shake us from our position."

Meanwhile, in an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Caborn said the Government viewed Zimbabwe's ban on the BBC "very seriously". The purpose of the tour, he said, was in doubt and the decision to participate should be reconsidered. "I would be very concerned if our national cricket team is going there and our national broadcaster is not allowed to televise the event."

Prof Jonathan Moyo, the information minister, said on Friday that the BBC's accreditation to cover a series of one-day matches had been suspended until further notice. Zimbabwe is unhappy at the BBC's coverage of the violence against white farmers and has expelled its correspondents.

Prof Moyo's announcement undermined the main reason for the visit, which was to bolster Zimbabwe cricket and give the country's sport impartial international exposure.

John Read, the ECB spokesman, said: "We will be consulting the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and the Foreign Office."

-- Anonymous, August 25, 2001

Answers

I sure hope old Jesse Jackson sees this one and gets on it fast!

-- Anonymous, August 25, 2001