By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
White farmers in Zimbabwe, who two decades ago were deprived of their land which once produced export crops that made the country buoyant, are to receive $3.5 billion compensation from the government.
Harare on Wednesday agreed to pay the compensation for land expropriated by the government of Robert Mugabe who rode to power in 1980 on the crest of anti-colonialism sentiment and the need to upgrade the lives of black families.
Mugabe, however, impoverished the country and left the citizens worse off at the time he was ousted from power in 2017 after ruling for 37 years.
The compensation agreement, signed at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State House office, moves a step closer to resolving one the most divisive policies of the Mugabe era.
But Zimbabwe does not have the money and will issue long term bonds and jointly approach international donors with the farmers to raise funding, according to the compensation agreement, as reported by Reuters.
Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent evictions of 4,500 white farmers and redistributed the land to around 300,000 black families, arguing it was redressing colonial land imbalances.
The agreement signed in Harare showed white farmers would be compensated for infrastructure on the farms and not the land itself, as per the national Constitution.
Details of how much money each farmer, or their descendants – given the time elapsed since the farms were seized – was likely to get were not yet clear, but the government says it would prioritise the elderly when making the settlements.
Farmers would receive 50 per cent of the compensation after a year and the balance within five years, according to the report by Reuters.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and acting Agriculture Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri signed on behalf of the government, while farmers unions and a foreign consortium that undertook valuations also penned the agreement.
“As Zimbabweans, we have chosen to resolve this long-outstanding issue,” said Andrew Pascoe, head of the Commercial Farmers Union representing white farmers.
The land seizures were one of Mugabe’s signature policies that soured ties with the West. Mugabe, who was ousted in a coup in 2017 and died last year, accused the West of imposing sanctions on his government as punishment.
The programme still divides public opinion in Zimbabwe as opponents see it as a partisan process that left the country struggling to feed itself. But its supporters say it has empowered landless black people.
Mnangagwa said the land reform could not be reversed but paying of compensation was key to mending ties with the West.
