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NOW that Britain has admitted that it is to blame for the situation in Zimbabwe, it must apologise for launching a campaign of vilification against the Government and its leaders. The British administration should also compensate white commercial farmers whose land has been acquired by the Government for redistribution to the landless black majority. This it must do as a colonial obligation. Recently, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw blamed the current crisis in Zimbabwe on the colonial policies of the imperial power. "However, when any Zimbabwean, any African, says to me land is the key issue�the early colonisers were all about taking land," he said. The statement by Mr Straw was an admission of the disorder created by British colonialism in Zimbabwe and other countries, which were occupied by Britain. It justifies Zimbabweans in reclaiming their land taken from them by the leader of the white pioneer settlers, Cecil John Rhodes on behalf of the British crown. Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity, Cde Nathan Shamuyarira, said the ruling party received the statement by Mr Straw with great satisfaction because it justifies the fight over land. Britain fanned a vicious negative campaign against Zimbabwe to frustrate the land reform programme. "Now that Britain has admitted its mistakes in Zimbabwe, it must honour its pledges made at the Lancaster House constitutional talks to compensate the white commercial farmers for the land that has been acquired by the Government for resettlement of landless Zimbabweans. "It must also immediately stop its negative campaign against President Mugabe and the Government which it promoted and influenced internationally," he said. Cde Shamuyarira said it was a well-known fact that Britain had created problems in India, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the Middle East and in its other former colonies. "Mr Straw�s statement is a good admission on record," he said. The Government was right after all in giving land to landless Zimbabweans. It was a justified thing that the State had to do at all costs. The country�s agrarian revolution has made an indelible mark in the annals of world history that will be difficult to erase. Zimbabwe has stood out as the only country that has boldly come out to reclaim land expropriated by colonialists. The Government has been resolute in empowering the landless people through equitable land redistribution. This has been done despite strong and vicious opposition from Britain and its European and American allies who sought to maintain the status quo. Zimbabwe�s land reform programme has been a success story emulated by other countries where the majority have been shortchanged on land. Even former foes of the country and critics of the exercise have now come to accept that what President Mugabe did in redistributing land was the right thing to do. Like in any revolution, there were Zimbabweans who sold out and fell by the way side. The former colonial power, Britain, saw it fit to defend its kith and kin in a bid to maintain its own political and economic influence in the country. An anti-President Mugabe and Government campaign was launched internationally to defuse the revolutionary tide and scuttle the land reform programme. Anti-Zimbabwe elements demonised Cde Mugabe left and right and called him names in the hope of turning back the revolutionary clock. The West cried foul as it saw its interests threatened by the agrarian revolution. Led by Britain, the European states sponsored the Movement for Democratic Change in an effort to remove the Government of President Mugabe and replace it with a puppet regime. The foreign countries campaigned relentlessly for the opposition and poured in millions of dollars into the country to boost the image of the MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai. But it became very clear during the presidential election that Zimbabwe was not for sale when the people overwhelmingly voted for President Mugabe to the chagrin of his foes. Having lost in the crucial presidential elections, Britain and its allies in the EU and US resorted to supporting some dubious non-governmental organisations in a desperate bid to destabilise the country through false negative reports fed to the hostile international and opposition local Press. The Tony Blair government and its intelligence arm recently tried to plant seeds of discord in Zimbabwe along tribal lines. The former coloniser circulated a document claiming that the Shonas were out to decimate the Ndebeles. It was claimed in the document crafted by the British intelligence and the MDC that the Shonas wanted to suppress the Ndebeles by starving them and promotion of Shonas as a revenge against the raids carried out by the Ndebeles against the Shonas in the 18th century. The document has since been dismissed by the Government and Ndebele elders as a heap of lies and a desperate attempt by Britain and its allies to divide the people of Zimbabwe and undermine the unity that prevails in the country. This comes after Britain failed to install a puppet government through the MDC. Britain also tried to put a wedge between Zimbabwe and its regional neighbours and sister states in the African Union, which was successfully thwarted. The whole anti-Zimbabwe programme has been a disastrous flop. The whole of Africa has acknowledged that the problems in Zimbabwe were centred on the land question and not on governance as claimed by the West. There is a general consensus that without the land issue, there would be no conflict between Britain and Zimbabwe. As if that was not enough, the EU countries and the US imposed travel sanctions against the entire Zimbabwean leadership, including President Mugabe, members of his family, Cabinet, senior ruling party and Government officials. The travel restrictions were also extended to senior industry officials perceived to be sympathetic to the Government and the ruling party. However, as it came to pass, the campaign to oust Cde Mugabe proved futile and a waste of time and money. The failure to remove President Mugabe has started ruffling feathers among British political foes who are now blaming each for the strained relations between the UK and Zimbabwe over the land issue. During the Lancaster House constitutional conference that paved the way to Zimbabwe�s independence, Britain as a colonial power, pledged to compensate white farmers for the land that the Government would acquire for redistribution to the landless people. But the UK government later reneged forcing the Government to compulsorily acquire white-owned land without compensation. The white commercial farmers were made to believe that they could challenge the Government�s land reform exercise and possibly derail the revolution through the courts with the encouragement of sympathetic colonial judges. This did not work but the unrepentant farmers did not learn a thing. They chose to support an opposition party to unseat President Mugabe so that they could retain their farms under the MDC government. This again did not work when the MDC leader went down by over 400 000 votes during the March 9-11 presidential election. The success of the land reform exercise has triggered an agrarian revolution in Africa. It has sparked protests by people demanding land on the continent and other regions in the world. Over 95 percent of agricultural land held by the white farmers has so far been acquired by the Government for redistribution to landless peasants. The exercise has so far seen more than 300 000 families given land including 54 000 new commercial farmers. The Mulindwas
communication group
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