The seizure of farmlands from white farmers in Zimbabwe has been a major issue in the African nation. Over a decade ago, former president Robert Mugabe began seizing property from thousands of white farmers and giving it to blacks, supposedly as compensation for the abuses of colonial rule.
The practice, widely condemned as undemocratic and corrupt by the Mugabe Administration, prompted the United States Congress to pass in 2001 (and amend in 2018) the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA), which restricts U.S. support for multilateral financing to Zimbabwe until the African nation makes specified political and economic reforms.
Left to suffer the impact of these sanctions, a massive protest broke out in 2017, leading to the ouster of Mugabe and the appointment of current president Emmerson Mnangagwa. On assumption to office, the new leader promised to revive the country’s declining economy, by implementing much-needed reforms.
In line with that objective, the Zimbabwean government announced on Monday August 31, that foreign white farmers settled in the country, whose lands were seized under Mugabe, can apply to get them back and will be offered lands elsewhere if restitution proves impractical.
The announcement was made in accordance with the Zimbabwean laws passed during a short period of opposition government but ignored by Mugabe. The law states that foreign white farmers protected by treaties between their governments and Zimbabwe should be compensated for both land and other assets.
In this regard, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and Lands and Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka have called on affected farmers to apply for their lands back. “This means the government would revoke the offer letters of resettled (black) farmers currently occupying those pieces of land and offer them alternative land elsewhere,” the ministers said.
In July, Zimbabwe agreed to pay $3.5 billion in compensation to local white farmers whose land was forcibly taken by the government to resettle black families, a step towards creating the reforms.
Meanwhile, white farmers whose land had been earmarked for acquisition by the government but were still on the properties, can apply to lease the land for 99 years, just like their black counterparts.
According to Mnangagwa, the land reform could not be reversed but paying compensation was key to mending ties with the West. However, removing black beneficiaries from the land could prove practically and politically difficult.
The Mugabe programme still divides public opinion in Zimbabwe. While some are of the opinion that the reforms were a partisan process that left the country struggling to feed itself, supporters say it has empowered landless black people.
