ZIMBABWE: A farmer and opposition parliamentarian tells Deaglán de Bréadún about life under Mugabe
He could be a delegate to an Irish Farmers' Association conference until you hear the accent. Roy Bennett (46) is indeed a farmer, but although his grandfather hailed from Coleraine, Co Derry, Bennett's home is the troubled land of Zimbabwe.
There he farms 7,000 acres ("only 300 are arable") and was leading a fairly quiet life until a few years ago when he became involved in politics. Initially he opted for the ruling Zanu-PF party led by President Robert Mugabe but says that when the party apparatus rejected him, he switched to the Movement for Democratic Change, and got elected to parliament on the MDC ticket in June 2000.
He got involved in politics "through necessity" and says that "as soon as democracy is restored", he will devote his time exclusively to farming Charleswood Estate, his coffee plantation at Chimanimani in south-eastern Zimbabwe, some 420 kilometres from the capital, Harare.
The land question lies at the root of Mr Bennett's political involvement and the current turmoil in his country. He has paid a price for his activism. He recalls how, just before the elections and while he was away from Charleswood, a group of Zanu-PF supporters arrived at the farm. They beat his pregnant wife, Heather, who lost her baby as a result. Farm workers were also beaten, cattle were killed and the family home was looted.
He tells how they took over the farm for more than a month and used his vehicles to travel around the constituency and beat people up. "They said I could get my farm back if I quit MDC and rejoined Zanu-PF."
He regained possession and things were quiet for about a year before the harassment began again with "systematic weekly beatings" of his workers, as well as more cattle-killing and theft of property. He claims all this was carried out at the instigation the secret police.
Plots of land on his estate were given to army and police personnel without his consent and 100 tons of maize intended for his workers was confiscated.
Meanwhile, he had leased a farm close to Harare where he was growing tobacco. He describes how, during the country's general strike on March 18th to 19th last, the secret police took away three of his security guards. One of the three, Stephen Tonera (26), was killed and his body dumped at a local police station. Next day, March 20th, three armoured personnel carriers rounded up the workers and took them to a football field, where they were beaten, according to Mr Bennett.
He himself was arrested last September during the rural council elections and charged with a succession of offences. He was detained for three days along with a black security guard and both of them were beaten, the guard most severely. But the case was thrown out subsequently.
It is tough trying to function as an opposition politician: "I go to parliament and I debate in parliament but it is very difficult." He alleges that money which the British government gave for the resolution of the land issue was pocketed by supporters of the government party.
Lately there have been suggestions that the 79-year-old Mr Mugabe may be ready to retire: "He has no alternative." But Mr Bennett believes people around Mr Mugabe who have benefited from corruption don't want him to step down because, when he is gone, they will be accountable.
He has an hour with the Foreign Affairs Committee in Leinster House today and hopes to meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, later this week. Bennett and the Zimbabwe human rights lawyer, Mr Arnold Tsunga, are speaking at a fundraising event in Leopardstown Racecourse on Friday night. "I have come to look for support from the Irish who are very well-known and respected as far as human rights issues are concerned," says Mr Bennett. But he denies he is just trying to hold onto his farm: "It is not a case of not wanting to relinquish land, it is a case of doing it in a sustainable manner, with goodwill."