Zimbabwe bans hunting
Following the outrage over the killing of Cecil the Lion by Palmer, Zimbabwe bans the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the area frequently used by hunters. Bow and arrow hunts are also suspended unless hunters are approved by the National Parks and Wildlife Authority. The Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe stands to lose business $40 million a year from a ban.
Orders white farmers to give up land
In a speech marking Heroes Day — celebrating victory over the old white regime — Mugabe gives a stern warning to white farmers that his government will stick to its policy of removing them from their land. Nearly 3,000 farmers have been told to leave their properties, although only 500 have left so far. Those who remain could be fined and jailed for up to two years for ignoring the eviction order. Mugabe says the August deadline will allow new owners of the land enough time to prepare and plant for the new crop season in October.
We set ourselves an August deadline for the redistribution of land and that deadline stands. All genuine and well-meaning white farmers who wish to pursue a farming career as loyal citizens of this country have land to do so, no farmer need go without land.
He also rejects allegations that international food aid has been diverted away from opposition supporters to his own followers.
We shall feed all. Even the stooges and puppets will have enough. No Zimbabwean should die of hunger.
Re-elected
The Zimbabwe registrar-general declares that Mugabe wins a fifth term in office after the results from all 120 constituencies are returned. Mugabe wins 1,685,212 votes against 1,258,401 for challenger Tsvangirai. Mugabe makes a net gain of votes compared with the 2000 parliamentary election in every province in the country. While there is evidence of vote tampering in some areas, most of the ballots dropped into the box with a cross by Mugabe’s name are not fraudulent. There is no criticism of the count, and election observers from South Africa, Nigeria and Namibia effectively endorsed the election. Namibian observer:
It is our considered view that the election was free and fair and reflects the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe. [The poll] was watertight, without room for rigging”.
Justice Minister Chinamasa:
This is a runaway victory. It was won on the issue of the land.
Tsavrangai:
We foresaw electoral fraud but not daylight robbery. We find ourselves unable to endorse the purported election of President Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s president in this election. It’s the biggest election fraud I’ve witnessed in my life.
Elected president
Zimbabwe elects Mugabe as the first black prime minister in a landslide victory. Mugabe:
If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you…Is it not folly, therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten. If ever we look to the past, let us do so for the lesson the past has taught us, namely that oppression and racism are inequities that must never again find scope in our political and social system. It could never be a correct justification that, because whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today because they have power.
Co-founds ZANU
Mugabe co-founds Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) with Enos Nkala.