Illegal settlers ordered off Zimbabwe farms

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s new agriculture minister has ordered illegal occupiers of farms to vacate the land immediately, a move that could ultimately see some white farmers who say they were unfairly evicted return to farming.

Perrance Shiri, a military hardliner who was head of the air force before being picked for the critical land and agriculture ministry this month, called for ‘‘unquestionable sanity on the farms’’, the governmentowned Herald newspaper reported.

Land is an emotive issue in the African nation after the violent invasion of whiteowned farms in 2000 by supporters of former president Robert Mugabe, who said the seizures were a redress of colonialera imbalances.

The seizures sent the agricultural sector into a tailspin, triggering a broader slump that saw GDP almost halved by 2008.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe as leader last month, has promised to stabilise the economy and create jobs.

Reuters reported in September that Mnangagwa was plotting with the military, liberation war veterans and businessmen including current and former white farmers to take over from Mugabe, who resigned after a de facto military coup.

‘‘All those who were illegally settled or who just settled themselves on resettlement land should vacate immediately,’’ Shiri was quoted as saying on the Herald website.

‘‘Only those people with documentation of land occupancy and/ or those . . . allocated land legitimately should remain on the farms and concentrate on production unhindered.’’ — Reuters