Intruders kill white farmer Daily Telegraph (UK) Date posted:Mon 3-Jun-2002 Date published:Mon 3-Jun-2002
Back to previous page		His 740-acre tobacco farm is among thousands the government is due to seize as part of its heavily-criticised land grab. According to the official Herald newspaper, the farm has been "awarded" to Ngoni Masoka, permanent secretary in the department of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement By Peta Thornycroft in Harare A white farmer was shot dead by intruders outside his home in Zimbabwe yesterday, the first to be killed since President Robert Mugabe was re-elected in March. Charles Anderson was the 12th farmer to die since government-backed seizures of white-owned land began more than two years ago. His widow, Cindy, told neighbours that her husband died instantly after he confronted people inside their home at Dumnaglas farm in Glendale, about 50 miles north of Harare. A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said the Anderson family had just arrived back home from a visit when one of their two young sons alerted his parents to voices inside the homestead. Mr Anderson was felled by four shots after he went to investigate. The assailants then forced the boys, aged 10 and 13, out of the family car, where they had taken refuge, before driving off in it. The vehicle was found crashed a few miles from the farm. Five hours after his murder, Mr Anderson's body was still slumped outside the homestead, surrounded by a group of grim-faced farmers from the district. His 740-acre tobacco farm is among thousands the government is due to seize as part of its heavily-criticised land grab. According to the official Herald newspaper, the farm has been "awarded" to Ngoni Masoka, permanent secretary in the department of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement. Like hundreds of other white farmers, Mr Anderson had been struggling for more than a year with Mugabe supporters who invaded the farm. A neighbour said some days they allowed him to farm and at others he and his fearful workers were stopped. Mugabe has begun a process of redistributing white-owned farm land to black Zimbabweans, which has provoked widespread international criticism. The seizures heavily favour close associates of Mr Mugabe. One of the largest farms in Glendale district has been given to Reward Marufu, Mr Mugabe's brother-in-law. Most of the remaining 3,000 white farmers have to leave their homes and land by Aug 10 and those who resist eviction face up to two years in jail.