Zimbabwe to pay white farmers who lost land to Mugabe seizures $352mn

Zimbabwe is set to compensate white farmers who lost thousands of acres of their farm land to government seizures that were conducted in the 2000s by the late President Robert Mugabe.

The country whose economic fortunes turned for the worse following the seizures shall pay the white farmers up to $351.6 million.

According to a report that was published by Associated Press (AP), the Zimbabwe government had approved 441 applications for compensation worth $351.6 million from white farmers in the country and 94 applications from foreigners worth $196.6 million.

Only 1 per cent equivalent to $3.5 million will be paid in cash to local farmers who lost land, the government announced. The balance will be paid through the issuance of treasury bonds.

A related report by Bloomberg stated that compensation for the land the farmers lost under Mugabe will be in line with the accord signed by the government.

“Under an accord [that was] signed in 2020, the government agreed to compensate 4,000 White farmers whose land was seized by war veterans, but it has repeatedly missed payment deadlines. In May [2024], [the Zimbabwe government] said about 1,300 White Zimbabwe commercial farmers had signed up to get compensation that would be paid in 10-year treasury bills, estimated to cost it USD3.5 billion over 10 years,” Bloomberg reported adding that;

“… The government will also compensate farmers from five European nations including Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and the former Yugoslavia who had their farms seized even though they were protected under so-called bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements, or Bippas.”

The agriculture sector in Zimbabwe collapsed in the 2000s when Mugabe oversaw the seizure of highly productive large scale farms that belonged to mainly white commercial farmers.

Mugabe accused the farmers of owning farms they had grabbed from black people during colonialism.

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Apart from the farms though, foreign white farmers and some black farmers also lost property in the seizures. Many of the seizures were reported to have been conducted in a vigilante manner while others were spontaneous and unorganized takeovers that largely benefitted high ranking members of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.