Zambian president warns Zim white farmers against racism

LUSAKA – Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has warned white farmers who have resettled from neighbouring Zimbabwe that they will be thrown out if they use speech that is deemed to be racist, a state-run newspaper reported yesterday.

Mwanawasa, who was touring the Mkushi farming bloc in central Zambia where most Zimbabwean farmers have resettled, advised them to quickly learn how to cohabit with Zambians working on their farms, it said. He said certain words used to rebuke wrongdoers carried racial overtones when used by white people against locals, the state-run Zambia Daily Mail reported.”In Britain you can tell (Prime Minister Tony) Blair ‘go to hell’ but if you tell (Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Mundia) Sikatana ‘go to hell’ you will be deported,” Mwanawasa was quoted as saying.The president however told the farmers his government would not seize any of their property or farms if they were acquired legally.An estimated 125 Zimbabwean white farmers have settled in Zambia, according to unofficial figures.Zambian Land Minister Judith Kapijimpanga recently announced that Lusaka had not allocated any land to white Zimbabwean farmers but they had bought the land from locals.In 2000, Zimbabwe embarked on the controversial reform programme to acquire millions of hectares (acres) of land from whites and redistribute it to blacks.About 4,500 white farmers owned 70 per cent of prime farmland in the country, but now only around 500 remain as many have resettled in Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda and Nigeria or have moved to Australia or New Zealand.- Nampa-AFPHe said certain words used to rebuke wrongdoers carried racial overtones when used by white people against locals, the state-run Zambia Daily Mail reported.”In Britain you can tell (Prime Minister Tony) Blair ‘go to hell’ but if you tell (Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Mundia) Sikatana ‘go to hell’ you will be deported,” Mwanawasa was quoted as saying.The president however told the farmers his government would not seize any of their property or farms if they were acquired legally.An estimated 125 Zimbabwean white farmers have settled in Zambia, according to unofficial figures.Zambian Land Minister Judith Kapijimpanga recently announced that Lusaka had not allocated any land to white Zimbabwean farmers but they had bought the land from locals.In 2000, Zimbabwe embarked on the controversial reform programme to acquire millions of hectares (acres) of land from whites and redistribute it to blacks.About 4,500 white farmers owned 70 per cent of prime farmland in the country, but now only around 500 remain as many have resettled in Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda and Nigeria or have moved to Australia or New Zealand.- Nampa-AFP