Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers, who were violently evicted from their land in a series of invasions that began two decades ago, said they have been offered $3.5 billion to settle their dispute with the government.
Source: Evicted White Farmers Offered $3.5 Billion Payout – The Zimbabwean
Some of the 11 Zimbabwean white farmers are seen after their court hearing in Chegutu, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007. The farmers were brought to court to answer charges of breaching land laws by defying a government eviction order. The trial date was postponed to a later date. (AP)
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Government began driving the farmers off their land in 2000
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Commercial farms accounted for much of the nation’s exports
The offer is for improvements and assets on the more than 4,000 farms that were seized and doesn’t pertain to the land itself, said Ben Gilpin, director of the Commercial Farmers Union. An agreement is yet to be reached. The CFU represented most large-scale farmers in the southern African nation.
Neither Zimbabwe’s agriculture minister nor officials in the finance ministry immediately answered questions sent to their phones Wednesday and it’s not clear where Zimbabwe would find $3.5 billion. The country is battling inflation of almost 800% and dealing with shortages of currency, fuel and food with over 90% of the population out of formal employment.
Dispossessed farmers had been seeking $10 billion, but that was 15 to 20 years ago. Zimbabwe’s government maintains that the U.K., the former colonial power, should help pay the farmers. That’s unlikely to happen because the U.K. and most western governments criticized the seizures and the allocation of the properties to senior members of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party — alongside allegations of human rights abuses.
The offer is an attempt to draw to a close a dispute that tipped Zimbabwe’s economy into freefall by slashing export income and incurring sanctions from the U.S. and European Union. Zimbabwe’s rulers maintain that the land was taken forcibly during colonial times and needed to be returned to Black Zimbabweans.
The Telegraph reported the potential deal earlier.
COMMENTS
Best you decide if its USD or mabondi that you are debating here comrades. One is money while the other is funny money
Zanu are going to pay US$3.5 billion? Then there will be diesel coming out of the rocks or madwaleni all over the country and Eddie Cross and ED are destined for sainthood any moment now. And of course Shiri with 20 000 murders on his AK butt is an angel.
Yes the land was taken forcibly by you British and justifiably returned to its owners . The only problem we face today is you the British reneged on your promises thus our issues today. So let all parties get together and resolve this problem of payout etc. Unfortunately the British won’t want to talk as they still believe they are masters of us all.
Nyoni… The promise that was reneged on was that by ZANU-PF to settle landless blacks on the repurchased farms. They settled all the Chefs on them instead, so effectively Britain was paying for your leaders to screw you over. So Britain justifiably pulled the plug. Zanu PF have proved that (a) they cannot be trusted and (b) they are not for the people, they are for themselves. Mnangagwa had a golden opportunity to put things right but (being ZANU-PF through and through) he blew it. Maybe the next change of government the Brits will come back to the table.