Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Committee on Lands says the government should compensate white farmers who were disposed of their land during the country’s land reform programme for the improvements on those farms before they were acquired by the government.
The committee said Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa should include an allocation for this in his budget for next year which he is expected to release on 8 December.
The committee said it was essential compensate the farmers to pave way for the new farmers to get access to finance to improve their production.
“Section 72 (3) of the Constitution stipulates that previous white farmers should be compensated for the improvements that were effected on the farms before acquisition,” Committee chairman Christopher Chitindi said.
“The Zimbabwe Farmers Union highlighted that the bulk of its membership cannot access finances and opportunities under public-private investment as the land currently under their occupation is classified as ‘disputed land’,” he said.
He also said the government should make sure that infrastructure in the former white farms such as dams, irrigation infrastructure, and homesteads is shared equally by communities and not monopolised by particular individuals.
The decision to compensate white farmers is likely to be an uphill task because the government does not have money even to pay its civil servants on time.
It has been running on a budget of about $4 billion for the past seven years yet the compensation to white farmers was estimated seven years ago at $20 billion.
But the exercise will definitely improve relations between Zimbabwe and the West as President Robert Mugabe and his government have claimed for years that they are being punished for taking over land from white farmers.
See also
White farmers wanted US$20 billion compensation to end land dispute
Zimbabwe government property in Cape Town sold for R3.7 million over white farmers’ case
The big lie – former Zimbabwean white farmers are not driving maize production in Zambia
Chinamasa told white farmers you got us into this mess, get us out
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