Zimbabwe white farmers are reasonable men ready to engage with government- Mthuli

HON. MARKHAM: Could the Minister acknowledge whether he will be able to pay the first payment in June as per the agreement?

HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank Hon. Markham for the follow up question. Our ability to pay that amount he refers to depends on the success of the instrument and the fundraising strategies that the advisors are putting on the table and proposing. So I can only say once we are in agreement with the advisors whether these are viable instruments or not. I cannot give a definite answer at this stage. We still have a few weeks to go, so we are busy evaluating these instruments to see if indeed we can raise the funding to clear this amount by the middle of the year.

HON. GABBUZA: Now, since the Government entered into an agreement with the relevant people, would it mean that if we do not pay by end of June we are in breach of the agreement and are there any penalties to this Government?

HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: While I really appreciate the Hon. Member’s concern as to what would happen if we were in breach, we are not yet in breach, so it is still speculation but I do appreciate his forward thinking on this but we are not in breach. Besides, we are dealing with a group of farmers, 4 000 of them, very reasonable men and women who are Zimbabweans and are always ready to engage constructively with Government. I do not think we should be too worried about breaches and other legal issues. I thank you.

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