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MDC calls for immediate end to farm disturbances
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
April 09, 2009

The new wave of farm disturbances that are rocking the country represent yet another major threat to the new era of rapprochement and economic recovery that had begun to instil confidence in the people of Zimbabwe.

The MDC believes that the occupations are a threat to the rule of law, to decency, to hope and to economic recovery.

The farm disturbances and the wanton arrests of farmers are not only a threat to food security, but to the goodwill that the international community had started to extend to the inclusive government.

Every farm that is invaded shuts a door of international goodwill and vindicates assertions by financiers and the broader global community that Zimbabwe is far from respecting basic things like property rights.

Every case of disturbances shatters the hopes of domestic, regional and international actors who are key catalysts to Zimbabwe's economic revival.

All parties must respect the Global Political Agreement and the MDC urges the inclusive government to immediately halt the senseless disturbances on the farms.

The mayhem on the farms detracts from the collective national aspiration, especially after the inclusive government itself had begun to bring back confidence ahead of the winter cropping season, itself an integral part of the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme (STERP).

We remain deeply worried by the conduct of some in key institutions who are still steeped in partisan politics and the past politics of hatred, sabotage and vilification.

Equally, the MDC calls on the inclusive government to address all the outstanding issues captured in the SADC communiqué of January 2009.

Contentious issues such as the unprocedural appointment of central bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, provincial governors, permanent secretaries and ambassadors and the swearing-in of Hon Roy Bennett as deputy minister of Agriculture must be immediately dealt with to entrench the new-found confidence and hope that has begun to engulf the people of Zimbabwe.

Anything short of addressing these issues will endanger the life and health of the inclusive government.

We in the MDC remain committed to solving the challenges facing the people of Zimbabwe. We want the respect of basic freedoms and the return to democracy. We want the immediate release of all prisoners facing trumped-up charges of banditry and terrorism.

We want a free and unfettered media. We want justice and national healing in our communities.

The MDC remains a party of excellence. We believe our commitment to democracy and a new Zimbabwe should be reciprocated through acts of sincerity and goodwill by those who seem to continue to work against peace, hope and development; those who want Zimbabweans to continue to suffer even after our dreams for a better Zimbabwe had begun to be realised.

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