Zimbabwe 2000: I Interview Hunzvi And See Why His Nickname is Hitler

In a new twist to Zimbabwe's land crisis, the leader of black independence-war veterans occupying white-owned farms called for supporters of the ruling ZANU PF party in May 2000 to root out and expel British passport holders. Chenjerai Hunzvi's call came at a political rally in Harare, and Mr. Hunzvi elaborated in a subsequent interview with me.

Mr. Hunzvi first blasted Britain for what he described as its efforts to dictate to Zimbabwe and to set conditions for a resolution of the current land crisis. Then, in a call likely to add further strain to the tense relations between Zimbabwe and its former colonial ruler, Mr. Hunzvi told a rally of the ruling ZANU PF party in a black working class suburb of Harare that British citizens must be made to leave the country.

In a subsequent interview, the war veteran's leader explained.

(HUNZVI): It is not a racial issue. It is only an unfortunate situation that the British have said they are going to evacuate their 25-thousand British citizens who are in Zimbabwe holding British passports. We did not know there were British citizens in Zimbabwe. This is not Zimbabwe-Britain. This is Zimbabwe on-its-own and we are now going to search for those people with British passports to leave our country.

(BELIDA): That sounds a little ominous, if you will forgive me. Does that mean you are going to tell your people to find people with British passports, and take them to the airport, and make them leave?

(HUNZVI): The airport. Maybe on the ground.

In response to a later question, Mr. Hunzvi made clear it would not be a voluntary matter for British citizens.

“We are not going to tell them, saying that they are welcome to go. They must just leave.”

The war veterans' leader, who received an enthusiastic reception from the several-hundred who attended the ZANU PF rally, said it was the British who were causing problems in Zimbabwe. He accused Britain of planning to invade the country, but said his veterans were prepared.

“They are the ones who are causing a lot of problems as far as we are concerned. They should know that they are foreigners, 'uitlanders', aliens if you want to call them, whatever. Because of a few-thousand British who are here, the British government tends to think it can invade Zimbabwe as they did in Libya and Iraq. We are not going to accept that. We are already deployed.”

But Mr. Hunzvi also made clear, at both the rally and in the interview, that any actions taken by his supporters should be peaceful and non-violent.

“In as far as land is concerned, I have been appealing to the people that they should be peaceful, wherever they are. They should not be violent - neither fight amongst themselves. When I say amongst themselves, that is black and white. We are all Zimbabweans. We should work together.”

President Robert Mugabe has backed the war veterans' farm occupations and promised quick action to seize scores of farms currently owned by whites, without compensation for the land. Mr. Mugabe maintains the land was stolen by settlers and if any compensation is paid, Britain should pay it.

Many white farmers in Zimbabwe are British or the descendants of British colonial settlers. Britain has said it has contingency plans to take in 20-thousand of them if violence increases. Two white farmers have been killed in clashes.

Opposition critics and diplomats have charged the farm occupations are not about redressing land ownership imbalances. Instead, they claim the farm seizures have been engineered by Mr. Mugabe in a bid to shore up the ruling party's sagging popularity before planned Parliamentary elections.