White farmer's ordeal in Zimbabwe
Mike Campbell has fought efforts to seize his farm. Though shaken by a brutal attack on his family by Mugabe's militiamen, he remains undeterred.
CHEGUTU, ZIMBABWE — The ancient chestnut horse, Ginger, stands on the veranda near the farmhouse door, waiting for a treat. But the old farmer and his wife do not come.
The farm dogs leap like dancers, extravagantly pleased to have visitors. The cats bask in the sun. Four red hens peck busily in the flower beds. The garden is alive with bird chatter. But the house stands silent and empty.
No one has lived here since late June, when Mike Campbell, 74, and his wife, Angela, were attacked by militants associated with Zimbabwe's ruling party, which targeted white farmers as well as opposition supporters in the recent election violence.
The beating was so brutal that Campbell's friends didn't recognize photographs taken of him after the nine-hour ordeal. Angela, 67, says her faith sustained her when the men wanted to cut off her fingers because her rings had gotten stuck.
Campbell, one of the few white farmers left in Zimbabwe, had got plenty of government warnings to vacate his spread, which he had named Mount Carmel. He ignored all of them.
He was a feisty, gruff fellow with the determined vigor of someone convinced that he was right and with a hide as tough as a rhino's. If he had a soft side, he kept it well-hidden.
He approached life like a warrior, battling thieves who tried to steal mangoes and the government minister, Nathan Shamuyayira, who wanted to seize the farm where he and Angela had lived for nearly 35 years.
But even tough men can get broken. In early July, he was lying on a bed with four ribs, a collarbone and a foot broken, a dislocated finger and bruises all over his body, including a huge purple one covering the side of his head.
His voice quavered. Occasionally he lost a phrase or an idea and had to pause, racking his brain. Answering questions exhausted him.
He had survived. But suddenly, he seemed like an old man.
"Tough. Jeepers, he's tough," said Campbell's son, Bruce, 42, who farms with him. Remembering the night of the attack, he says, "I can't believe he survived. I thought my old man was going to die when I picked him up."
The ruling ZANU-PF, shocked by its poor result in the March elections, has accused the opposition Movement for Democratic Change of planning to return land to white farmers, reversing "the fruits of the liberation struggle" against the white regime of Ian Smith in the 1970s.
- Government Begins Evicting Farm Squatters May 16, 2002
- 60% of White Farmers Defy Eviction Order Aug 11, 2002
- From Hero to Despot, and the World Watches in Silence May 07, 2000
