Farmers split in Zimbabwe land row

Mugabe has defied court orders to evict war veterans from white-owned farms

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Farmers in Zimbabwe are to meet to discuss continuing land seizures amid signs of a split in their ranks.

The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), which represents 4,500 mainly white farmers, is considering its response to President Robert Mugabe's drive to seize their land for black resettlement.

The meeting on Wednesday comes after the emergence of a group within the CFU which wants a compromise with Mugabe, saying court actions against him have hardened his attitude to the policy.

Mugabe plans to confiscate five million hectares (11 million acres) of the 12 million hectares occupied by white farmers and has earmarked more than 3,400 farms for redistribution to landless blacks.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, says white farmers have 70 percent of the country's best land and must only be compensated for improvements, not the land.

Supporters of the president, led by veterans of the 1970s independence war, have occupied hundreds of white farms since February 2000.

Mugabe has defied court orders to evict them, while seven farmers have been killed in violence associated with the invasions, five of them among 31 mostly opposition supporters killed ahead of parliamentary polls last June.

Some of the farmers say that CFU leaders, backed by other countries, have worsened the situation due to a confrontational approach which they say has hardened Mugabe's stance.

Former CFU president Nick Swanepoel, who leads the compromise faction, says the current executive led by Tim Henwood should be sacked because it has become political.

Mugabe accuses white farmers of backing the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He says the MDC would not have developed into a strong force without their support.

Call for new leadership

The MDC won nearly half the 120 contested seats in last year's parliamentary elections.

"The previous stance of the CFU leadership indicates that a new team is vital to facilitate a negotiated settlement," Swanepoel said in a series of newspaper advertisements on the eve of the one-day congress.

He said white farmers -- who have backed land redistribution but oppose seizures -- must accept the government's target and immediately resettle 20,000 families on plots of between two and five hectares with free tillage, seed and fertiliser.

The farmers must also drop all legal challenges against the government, he said, to allow Zimbabwe to approach donors including Britain and the U.S. to unblock aid for compensation and help reverse Zimbabwe's economic crisis.

"The economy is in a free-fall and every day that we continue on our present path makes eventual recovery more difficult. God forbid that we reach the point of no return," Swanepoel said.

He said successful land reforms would guarantee the security of tenure which farmers are seeking.

Mugabe's government has vowed not to deal with Henwood's executive, and Swanepoel's critics say he is trying to turn the union into a branch of the ruling party.

They say his drive is co-sponsored by John Bredenkamp, a farmer, oil and arms trader with strong links to Mugabe's party, but Bredenkamp denies the link.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Zimbabwe Government
Commercial Farmers' Union

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