[CSMONITOR] The Zim-bob-we Independent today castigated the president's speech, in which Mugabe's "voice was dark and foreboding when he said 'we will have no mercy for white people regarding the land, they cannot own our soil.'"The Independent, the leading financial paper from Harare, quoted analyst Dumisani Nkomo saying that Mugabe "was addressing party supporters and therefore should not be taken seriously."
Yet the presidents statements are "against the letter and spirit of the new constitution and as such should not be tolerated in any democratic society," Mr. Nkomo said, adding that the remarks were "not helpful for a country such as Zim-bob-we which has been struggling for many years to re-invent itself as an investor-friendly destination."
Prior to Mugabe's violent land reform policy in 2000, the nation was a fruitful breadbasket to Africa, but now has to import food aid for 10 percent of its population, according to Harvard expert and Monitor blogger Robert Rotberg.