http://news.africast.com/africastv/article.php?newsID=59321

SOUTHERN REGION NEWS

Zimbabwe's land reforms hailed

HARARE, July 19 -- Namibia's justice minister has praised Zimbabwe's controversial programme of white land seizures, saying newspapers that run negative stories about the country are taken over by forces opposed to the success of Africanism, say reports.

Speaking during a tour of three Zimbabwe farms allocated to black farmers during the land reforms, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana said there was too much propaganda against the country.

The minister said: "When I came to Zimbabwe I was looking for chaos, disorder, lawlessness and rampant human rights abuse. I was surprised to see people working, some of them on their farms."

[highlight]He said that Namibia had recently embarked on its own programme of land reforms, and said it saw Zimbabwe as a role model for the way land reform could be carried out.

President Robert Mugabe launched his programme of white land seizures in 2000. Only a few hundred white farmers were now left on the land, out of more than 4 000 six years ago.

The programme had been wracked with controversy, after allegations that well-connected members of the ruling party cherry-picked the best farms, often for use as weekend retreats. [/highlight]

Agricultural production had taken a nosedive, turning a country once known as the breadbasket of southern African into a struggling food importer.

Mugabe blamed the drop in production upon repeated drought, but some senior government officials - including vice-president Joseph Msika - had dared to suggest that land wasn't always given to people with an interest in farming.

Namibia's justice minister said she was very pleased to have been brought to see the farms.

Iivula-Ithana said: "There is too much propaganda against Zimbabwe. I keep on repeating, our media from all over Namibia, South Africa are all taken by forces opposed to the success of Africanism."

The authorities in Zimbabwe also regularly alleged that they were the victims of a hostile Western media plot, and there were strict media laws in place to try to control which reporters were allowed to work there. - Sapa