The Movement for Democratic Change says First Lady Grace Mugabe is not above the law and must stop evicting people from Manzou Farm until they have been allocated suitable and adequate land.
Grace is reported to have ordered about 200 villagers off the farm to make way for a game park.
MDC spokesman Obert Gutu said the move was unlawfully because Grace was defying a court order which said the villagers should not be evicted until alternative land had been found for them.
“Grace Mugabe has unlawfully and selfishly taken over the entire Mazowe valley which is one of the most fertile farming areas in Zimbabwe,” Gutu said.
“Poor peasants have been treated in a very inhumane and degrading manner by Grace Mugabe who is corruptly abusing State power by disobeying a lawful order issued by the High Court.
“The ZANU-PF regime believes in the rule by law as opposed to the rule of law. According to Grace Mugabe, might is right and the rights of the poor do not matter at all as long as the rich and powerful get their way.”
Full statement:
MDC Information Department
Friday, 09 January 2015
Grace Mugabe is not above the law
On Wednesday January 7, 2015 more than 200 villagers were illegally and forcibly evicted from Manzou farm in Mazowe district to pave way for one Grace Mugabe to continue with her voracious land grab escapade. The MDC has always advocated for a sustainable and holistic land reform programme that is deliberately aimed at productivity and sustainably resettling all holistically disadvantaged people.
The Zanu PF regime, on the other hand , has undertaken a violent and unsustainable land grab exercise whereby millions of hactares of productive commercial farmland has been usurped and parceled out to a few Zanu PF politicians and other politically well connected individuals . Thus, in a short period of 15 years, the Zanu PF regime has managed to destroy a once viable commercial agricultural sector. In the process, more than 90% of Zimbabweans have been reduced to poverty, destitution and squalor . From being the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe has been reduced to a mere basket case thanks to the ruinous and disasterous violent so-called land reform programme undertaken by the Zanu PF regime over the past few years.
From its formation in September 1999, the MDC has always and consistently called for the adoption of a holistic and sustainable land reform programme targeted at decongesting the over-populated and barren communal areas by giving land to the deserving black majority. The MDC land reform programme is under-pinned by a deliberate policy that will empower resettled farmers by granting them new skills and providing them with adequate input support as well as agricultural mechanisation.
The MDC will ensure that the lives of all resettled farmers are transferred for the better and that the living standards of all Zimbabweans transformed improved. By contrast, the Zanu PF regime only believes in empowering the elite section of society leaving the majority of the people in abject poverty. Typical of all dictatorships, the Zanu PF regime , fronted by Robert Mugabe , is very comfortable when the majority of people are poor and thus, easily susceptible to political manipulation.
Grace Mugabe has unlawfully and selfishly taken over the entire Mazowe valley which is one of the most fertile farming areas in Zimbabwe. Poor peasants have been treated in a very inhumane and degrading manner by Grace Mugabe who is corruptly abusing State power by disobeying a lawful order issued by the High Court. The Zanu PF regime believes in the rule by law as opposed to the rule of law. According to Grace Mugabe, might is right and the rights of the poor do not matter at all as long as the rich and powerful get their way.
The Zimbabwean economy is in a sorry state presently largely because the majority of the people’s rights are trashed by an insensitive, cruel, ruthless and corrupt ruling elite.
The MDC calls upon Grace Mugabe to immediately obey the High Court order that allowed the villagers at Manzou Farm not to be evicted until such a time they are allocated suitable and adequate alternative agricultural land.
MDC: Equal Opportunities For All
Obert Chaurura Gutu
MDC National Spokesperson.
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