Land seizures in Zimbabwe benefit powerful, not landless

Los Angeles Times

MAZOWE, Zimbabwe -- Grace Mugabe came here last week, but her visit had nothing to do with any official duties of Zimbabwe's first lady.

Instead, Mugabe came to personally evict white farmers John and Eva Matthews, a septuagenarian couple who own the sprawling 2,500-acre Iron Mask Estate.

Witnesses said Mugabe -- accompanied by senior army officers, government officials and young toughs from her husband's ruling party -- told the Matthews they had 48 hours to vacate the farm or be arrested.

Mugabe's husband, President Robert Mugabe, has promised his planned confiscation of white farms would benefit thousands of landless black Zimbabweans, but so far senior Cabinet ministers, top army officials, and the president's relatives and friends appear to be among the big beneficiaries.

As the U.S. and others send shipments of maize to feed starving Zimbabweans, top U.S. and British officials say they want to work with the international community -- particularly Zimbabwe's African neighbors -- to isolate Mugabe, who they say rigged polls earlier this year to win re-election.

Mugabe says he is simply trying to address colonial-era injustices when blacks were driven off the most fertile land to make way for white farmers. He is expected to square off with Western officials later this week at a United Nations summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.