Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vowed yesterday to press on with land seizures and urged supporters to rally round his embattled government in the face of an unprecedented political challenge.
In a fiery speech at the funeral of a key ally who spearheaded the occupations of white-owned farms in support of the land seizures, there was no mistaking Mr Mugabe's preoccupation with a presidential election due in less than a year.
The 77-year-old former guerrilla leader, who has made land redistribution central to his campaign, said his ZANUPF party had been badly shaken by the death of Mr Chenjerai Hunzvi, known as "Hitler", who led civil war veterans on to white farms, as well as by those of two cabinet ministers within just six weeks.