Government pledges to compensate land grab farmers

Zimbabwe will begin compensating white farmers whose land was seized in 2000 leading to the decimation of agriculture and the economy. New Zimbabwe reports that the government has cleared 444 former commercial farm owners to receive payment for improvements made on the land before they were evicted, it said in a statement. ‘The government allocated $35m in the 2024 budget for compensating former farm owners who are part of the Global Compensation Deed signed in 2020,’ it said. In terms of the accord, the government agreed to compensate 4 000 white farmers whose land was seized by war veterans, but it has repeatedly missed payment deadlines. In May, it said about 1 300 white Zimbabwean commercial farmers had signed up to get compensation that would be paid in 10-year Treasury bills, estimated to cost it $3.5bn over 10 years. It said it would also compensate farmers from Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and the former Yugoslavia who had their farms seized even though they were protected under so-called bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements. The payments are vital in the nation’s bid to win over creditors for the restructure of $21bn debt it owes, after defaulting in 1999.