The Zimbabwean government has broken a 2020 compensation agreement with dispossessed white farmers. Instead of the promised money, it offered treasury bills. On Saturday, the farmers rejected the offer.
In the early 21st century, liberation war veterans under the late former president Robert Mugabe carried out brutal land grabs, evicting some 4,500 white farmers from their farms and giving the land to 300,000 black families. The reform was a failure, with Zimbabwe’s economy collapsing in 2000.
After lengthy negotiations over compensation, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government and white farmers’ representatives agreed in July 2020 that $3.5 billion would be paid for “farm improvements.” The agreement called for half of the amount to be repaid within a year, with the rest spread over five years.
ZimbabweSteve Mathambo Ngoma/Shutterstock
Farmers have not seen the money to this day
The agreement was part of Mnangagwa's broader strategy to improve Zimbabwe's international relations and rebuild an economy that was in shambles when he took office following a November 2017 coup.
Four years later, the farmers had not even received the first part of the negotiated compensation and Mnangagwa changed his mind and offered them treasury bills with a maturity of over 10 years and an interest rate of 2%.
Farmers rejected the offer on Saturday, calling it “unsatisfactory.”
Main image source: Steve Mathambo Ngoma/Shutterstock