Q&A: Zimbabwe's land reform

Mugabe insists a deadline remains in force for white farmers to quit their land

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has ordered white farmers to abide by a government deadline to leave their land under a government land reform policy aimed at handing the properties to landless blacks. Adrian Lunga of the Freedom For Zimbabwe campaign spoke to CNN.

Q. The deadline has been set and punishment has been set as well, where do we go from here?

A. The situation is not about white farmers as such, it's about a humanitarian catastrophe in Zimbabwe with over one million people (displaced), and the white farmers are a small minority of that group.

The farming community has been devastated by the policies of Robert Mugabe and his regime, and that is the sad thing.

Q. What kind of impact is this going to have on the rest of the rest of the southern African region?

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A. It is really bad because Zimbabwe has been turned from the bread basket of the region into the basket case of the region, and since it was exporting food to Malawi, Zambia and other neighbouring countries, those countries will not be able to feed their own populations, and so we have a humanitarian disaster in the making in southern Africa because of the Zimbabwean situation, and the racist, corrupt and genocidal dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe.

Q. So what are you looking to the international community to do?

A. Unfortunately the international community has been slow in acting and one of the main things to do is tighten the targeted sanctions.

We should start banning the spouses and children of members of Zimbabwe's regime from entering international countries, including the United States, the EU and even neighbouring African countries, as these people are being used as the conduits for corrupt funds that are keeping those people in power and keeping them comfortable. We have got to make it uncomfortable for the regime and by doing that we will be making a change sooner rather than later.

Q. What is happening to those white farmers who have been forced to leave?

A. As I said, the issue is really not about white farmers, over one million people have been displaced by this policy, and there are only around 3,000 white farmers.

Those people who own land should not give up their title deeds and farmers and farm workers should start setting up structures to resume farming at a later stage, but the international community should be acting to change the attitude of the Robert Mugabe regime and also exerting pressure on South Africa and other regional countries to push Mugabe in the right direction.

Q. What has the opposition been doing throughout all this?

A. The opposition is powerless at the moment because we have a regime that is using all the arms of the state to oppress any freedom.

We have no freedom of the media, no freedom of speech or of assembly. You cannot have a meeting in Zimbabwe without the approval of one of the regime lieutenants, and if you continue to have a meeting, they can actually come and stop it or even teargas the people in there.

We have a regime that is intent on suppressing every right of the Zimbabwean people and that is why it is very important the international community does not waste time and the next step should be closing embassies.