World News | Zimbabwe Signs Billion-dollar Deal to Repay White Farmers
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Zimbabwe's government on Wednesday signed a deal with former white farmers to pay them billions of dollars in compensation roughly two decades after they lost their land in often violent invasions.
Harare (Zimbabwe), Jul 29 (AP) Zimbabwe's government on Wednesday signed a deal with former white farmers to pay them billions of dollars in compensation roughly two decades after they lost their land in often violent invasions.
But because the government does not readily have the money, the farmers will be part of a team tasked with raising the cash.
About 4,000 farmers lost large swathes of land when Zimbabwe's late leader Robert Mugabe launched the often-chaotic land reform program which he said was aimed at addressing colonial-era land inequities. White farmers had owned the majority of prime farmland. Agricultural land now belongs to the government.
According to the agreement, signed at President Emmerson Mnangagwa's official residence and witnessed by representatives of the former farmers, the USD 3.5 billion compensation is not for the land but for infrastructure such as wells, irrigation equipment and buildings. The farmers initially wanted over USD 5 billion.
The full payment is expected to be done within five years. But it is unclear if the former farmers will receive the money given that Zimbabwe is financially troubled and burdened with a huge debt.
The government will borrow on international markets and the farmers will be part of a “joint resource mobilization committee” tasked with raising the money, according to the agreement.
Mnangagwa, who took power in 2017 after Mugabe was forced to resign, has encouraged former white farmers to apply for pieces of land.
The president said the latest developments have brought closure. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)