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· Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers, who were evicted from their land some two decades ago, have been offered US $3.5 billion to settle their dispute with the government
· The offer is to compensate for more than 4 000 farms that were seized from them. An agreement is yet to be reached
Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers, who were evicted from their land some two decades ago, have been offered US $3.5 billion to settle their dispute with the government. The offer is to compensate for more than 4 000 farms that were seized from them. An agreement is yet to be reached. The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) represented most
large-scale white farmers in the southern African nation.
However, there is no official confirmation from the government that the deal was struck. The other pertinent question that is raised is how Zimbabwe would find US$3.5 billion to pay the compensation to the white farmers, having regard to the economic turmoil the country is passing through. The inflation in the country is almost 800%. Coupled with this, there are shortages of currency, fuel and food. Over 90% of the population is unemployed.
Initially, dispossessed farmers had been seeking US$10 billion as compensation. Some 15 to 20 years have been lapsed since then. Zimbabwe’s government is passing on the bucks to the UK, the former colonizer. They insist that they (the UK) have to make the payment. However, the UK government and several other western countries criticized the seizures and the allocation of the properties to senior members of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party. There were reported allegations of human rights abuses.
Also, Zimbabwe has been on the receiving end since the seizure of the land, Zimbabwe’s economy had experienced a freefall. Export income contracted thanks to sanctions from the US and European Union. Zimbabwe’s authorities have been maintaining that the land was taken forcibly during colonial times and needed to be returned to Black Zimbabweans.
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