The Zimbabwean government has announced plans to compensate both local and foreign white farmers who lost land and property during the controversial land seizures that began in 2000.
Around 4,000 white farmers were impacted by the land redistribution program initiated by then-President Robert Mugabe, which often turned violent. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed on Wednesday that the government has approved a compensation package totaling $351.6 million for local farmers and $196.6 million for foreign claimants. Notably, only 1% of the compensation will be disbursed in cash, with the remainder to be issued as treasury bonds.
The government has set aside funds for 444 former commercial farm owners, compensating them for improvements made to the land before their eviction. Foreign claimants from countries such as Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and other Eastern European nations will collectively receive an initial $20 million.
Ncube indicated that the government allocated $35 million in the 2024 budget specifically for compensating former farm owners as part of the Global Compensation Deed signed in 2020. The compensation for local farmers will cover improvements like buildings and irrigation systems, but not the land itself. In contrast, foreign claimants with investment agreements will receive compensation for both land and improvements.
Payments are expected to be made in the last quarter of 2024 and are seen as crucial for the southern African nation’s efforts to gain favor with creditors while restructuring its $21 billion debt, which has been in default since 1999.
The government has engaged advisors, including Global Sovereign Advisory and Kelper-Karst, to assist with this restructuring, supported by the African Legal Support Facility.
In 2020, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration signed a deal with white farmers that encouraged them to apply for new land. Currently, all farmland is government-owned and leased to occupants, with plans for beneficiaries of the reform to sell land only to “Indigenous Zimbabweans,” a move that has drawn criticism.
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