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afrol.com, 28 August - While the so-called war vets were versatile supporters for Mugabe's intimidation campaign during the June elections, the situation is getting more and more out of control as the common ends are not longer obvious. Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, leader of the militant War Veterans Association and farm occupants, recently has become more aggressive towards the government and president Mugabe. Hunzvi himself was elected MP for the ruling Zanu-PF party and in Harare he is seen as one of the few who is in a position to intimidate Mugabe. Last month, he gave president Mugabe an ultimatum: Within two weeks, the properties of the 804 farms which are on the government's own list for repartition must be handled over and radical reform must have started. Within this time limit, the Zimbabwean government on 30 July announced that it would confiscate and redistribute 3000 farms on an immediate basis. Last week, a list of further 509 farms for immediate repartition was released. Mugabe in general also has supported the farm occupations by Hunzvi's followers. Still, the so-called war vets are not willing to respect the public order. - Once a genie has been let out of its bottle, it is virtually impossible to put it back in, a opposition MP noted in parliament on the failure of the government to restore law and order. Unfortunately, innocent people continue to be assaulted and intimidated, she continues, and it will be extremely difficult to lure those farm invaders away from a new-found source of power, which they have found too tempting not to abuse. Many of the occupied farms are not the the government list for redistribution, and there are valid court decisions on their immediate evacuation by occupants. But until last week, the government and the police had done nothing to enforce these rulings. While Mugabe was in Mozambique last week, the first actions to remove the occupants were realized. The "war vets" protested strongly against the attempts to clear some 700 occupants from farms in the Harare outskirts. Police tore down and burned the sheds out up by the occupants. On Thursday, furious "war vets" tried to hinder president Mugabe from leaving Zanu-PF headquarters, marking one of the most serious threats Mugabe has experienced while in power. It seems that the "war vets" and the government are steering towards a trial of strength. Government is starting to feel threatened and there is no longer doubt, neither in the Zanu-PF, that the opposition is right when criticizing the decomposition of law and order in Zimbabwe. The "war vets" on the other hand, cannot give up those farms they are occupying, as it is the safest way to actually obtain the lucrative properties they are holding hostage. Although the official policy is allocating the farms among the landless poor, it is evident that the actual occupants and their supporters are getting the lion's share of the land, whether they are in need or not. The oppositional MDC strongly criticizes that the rule of law has broken down as it has in Zimbabwe. It reports that members of the police still simply fold their arms or actively participate in the abuse of innocent people, and that even children are being abducted by "rogue war vets". Areas controlled by "war vets" are lawless, to put it simple.
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