Govt Faces Backlash Over $20 Million Payout to White Farmers
The government is facing widespread criticism from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) for disbursing US$20 million to compensate 94 former white farmers who lost their farms during the country’s land reform programme.
The initiative has sparked intense debate, with opposition lawmakers arguing that the government is prioritizing the interests of former colonial landowners over those of indigenous Zimbabweans who were historically displaced and marginalized.
The government’s decision to compensate the former farmers is based on Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPAs) signed with the farmers’ countries of origin, including Switzerland and Germany.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has stated that the compensation is for developments made on the farms prior to their displacement.
However, CCC legislator Darlington Chigumbu has questioned the government’s decision, arguing that it overlooks the historical injustices suffered by native black workers who toiled on the farms.
“It is a good thing that our country is honouring its commitments… However, they should also not be blind to the fact that the developments that these people are now being paid for, actually came as a result of labour practises that were near to slavery,” Chigumbu said.
Chigumbu emphasized that the native workers who laboured on these farms were not paid fairly and were subjected to inhumane treatment.
“Our grandfathers are no longer there to be part and parcel or to also claim with these farmers to say they also contributed to the development of that particular piece of land as well as not being treated fairly.”
The CCC legislator suggested that the government should establish a mechanism to compensate native workers who laboured on these farms.
“My prayer is that can this arrangement include a model whereby these people who are going to receive the payments… also pay the people who worked on these pieces of land, which they were not paid fairly during the time they were working on these pieces of land?” he asked.
Chigumbu also proposed that the government should consider providing compensation to the communities where the farms are located.
“Is it not also prudent Mr. Speaker Sir, to say that they can give back to the communities where their farms are located so that they can also pay something? The reason would be because they are now benefiting from something they did not pay for in as much as we are talking about the developments that were done on the pieces of land that they are now being paid for.”
The government’s initiative has reignited the debate over Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, which was launched in 1999 to address historical injustices by redistributing land from approximately 5,000 white farmers to indigenous Zimbabweans.
While the programme aimed to empower marginalized communities, it has been criticized for its chaotic implementation and the subsequent collapse of the country’s agricultural sector.
-NewZW
